From VincentC - "Find the halfling! Augh! Find the halfling!" (40 points)

Being poorly is the pits!

These Uruk Hai scouts were finished almost two weeks ago but a long weekend away in Lincolnshire sans internet and the mother of all man-flus has meant a delay in posting them, not only that but the next projects (including this week's bonus rounds entry) just haven't happened. Bummer!

Fortunately I think I'm coming out the other side and can resume normal hobbying activity.

"Do you know how the Orcs first came to be? They were Elves once, taken by the Dark Lord, tortured and mutilated. A ruined and terrible form of life. And now, perfected. My fighting Uruk-hai."—Saruman

In contrast to the rangers I painted previously (which got a surprisingly good reception) I found these guys a breeze and really enjoyed painting them, they were very quick to do as well taking only a few hours, I have to paint 18 in all to complete my objective so I'm very glad this was the case.

They're painted predominately in browns and reds using vallejo paints (for the most part). Games Workshop did a great job of sculpting these and I love the swordsmen charging forward especially.

From Curt:Nice work Vincent! I quite like the red skin tone of these. Have you started playing any of the scenarios from the book yet, or do you still have some models yet to complete?

From TeemuL - 28mm Classic Orc Arrers Boyz (20 Points)

Not really a point bomb, but multiple figures anyway. 4 classic Orc Arrer Boyz painted with classic theme. I don't have enough Blood Red to paint the bows and clothes in the original colors, but Evil Sunz Scarlet over Mephiston Red seems to quite okey. The skin is Goblin Green as well as the classic base. The feathers of the arrows are left Mephiston Red to give a little bit variety.

One thing that worries me, is that I probably used more time on each of these than for example the Frodo or the Gollum. Yeah, painting rank-and-file troops is fast...

Here is comparison between the brand new Orcs and about 20 years old Orc. Well, I do make the bases nowadays and I don't paint the skulls white, but otherwise it looks quite the same. Little bit neater, except the teeth.

I managed to finish these four this time, there's more to come!

4 28mm figures should give me whopping 20 points!

From Curt:

More classic GW Orks! Wonderful stuff. I love the yellow teeth and the red bows - very cool. What other units will we be seeing during the Challenge Teemu?

From TamsinP - 15mm Korean Righteous Army Command (11 Points)

After all those points bombs, here's a teeny tiny entry.

For my ever-expanding Choson Korean army, to use it as a certain date in FoG:R (1592-98 - the Samurai invasions of Korea) you have to take some warrior monks and some Righteous Army. The latter were a volunteer force composed of a mix of rural nobles and gentry, some monks and mostly peasants. And some regular troops from units which had fled or been destroyed. They mainly conducted guerrilla warfare against invading or occupying forces.

While I was prepping the figures for the warrior monks (which I might be taking away with me to paint over Christmas. Well, I will be taking them with me, whether or not I paint them is an entirely different matter. Oh, hang on - this post is going to be going up after Christmas isn't it? Well, you'll find out whether I did or didn't paint them if there's a post with them in today...) I noticed that I had the figures to do command stands for the warrior monks and the Righteous Army, so I prepped and primed those as well.

Just to get it out of the way and because there would only be space for all 16 bases of warrior monks and one command stand in the box I was taking away with me, I decided to paint this stand up quickly.

And then I remembered that I'd need suitable flags. A quick search of Google Images for inspiration, then some mucking about in MS Paint produced flags for the Righteous Army and the warrior monks.

A fairly basic paint job, so it will fit in with the rest of the army. Three foot figures and one mounted should give me 10 points, maybe 11 if Curt deems the flag worthy.

From Curt:Great work Tamsin and a worthy addition to your Choson army. I quite like the light blue horse harness and the flag really finishes off the stand.  Jolly good stuff!

From Sander - Warriors of Barsoom (20 Points)

For today's update I've decided on some of Bronze Age Miniatures excellent Sci Fi miniatures. They are heavily influenced on the adventures of John Carter of Mars. I have quite a lot of these and wanted to get started on them many times before, yet always got sidetracked by other projects. As in so many other cases, I am using the Challenge as an excuse to paint some up. The first batch are two Zodongan female fighters (in Red) and one male and one female Heliumite warrior (in blue).

Awaiting on my painting desk are some Green Warriors and a Great White ape, but I'll get cracking on the "Mount and Rider" bonus round first.

Cheers Sander

From Curt:I'm a big fan of John Carter of Mars and these look just fabulous. I look forward to seeing the Green Warriors and the Ape. Have you seen the stuff from Tin Man Miniatures? Beautiful sculpts and perhaps a nice compliment to these figures. Great work! 

From RossM - 28mm Chaos Warriors, 20mm WW2 German AVF & 15mm Sci Fi (54 Points)

Here are my first entries to this years Annual Painting Challenge. Shown first are two retro Citadel Chaos Warriors from the mid-eighties in 25/28mm.

These figures are part of a twelve man war band that will be painted over the next few months for use in Songs of Blade and Heroes or similar fantasy skirmish style games. The figures have character and individuality that you don't see in the more recent offerings from some suppliers.

The first figure was originally sold as a Chaos Warrior, it could however easily double up as a Skeleton Champion as well.

With the second figure the first inspiration was to re-create Elric of Melnibone, however when painting the figure, the lighter flesh did not sit right with the character and a more "tanned" flesh tone was used.

Still happy with the end result although the plan changed during the painting.

Next up is a selection of German Armoured Fighting Vehicles from WW2 in 1/76 scale or 20mm.

Firstly, there is a Sd Kfz 7 (8 Tonnes) Transporter. This a resin and metal kit from Britannia Miniatures now supplied by Grubby Tanks. Easily assembled and a relatively clean cast as well.

Next, again from Britannia Miniatures is a JagdTiger. A true behemoth of a model and when seen next to others from the same scale the size is apparent.

Next are two Sd Kfz 234/2 Pumas from Frontline Wargaming. These kits are not as clean as the Britannia kits although they do still paint up well albeit being somewhat basic in detailing and finishing.

These "cats" are definitely smaller than the previous but still pack a punch when needed and will most likely see more use on the gaming table.

The transfers shown on all the German armour are from Skytrex miniatures and are relatively easy to apply.

The last part of this entry comes from yet another different genre; this time being sci-fi in 15mm. The crew figures are from Ground Zero Games and the radar piece from Critical Mass Games. 

Hope that you like the mixed style of this entry as it will probably be a theme throughout my painting challenge this year. I'll leave the points to Curt to work out.

Cheers for now, Ross

From Curt:Wow, what a wonderfully eclectic mix of wonderfully painted figures! I really like seeing these old Citadel models getting some love.  I can see how the second figure would strike you as reminiscent of Elric of Melnibone as the pose has that unhinged, almost damned look about it. But as you say he's not quite there (too well-fed, the armour needs to be more ornate and then there's 'Stormbringer'...) The German vehicles are excellent, with my favourite being the Puma (such an awesome looking vehicle design). We're getting treated to a lot of 15mm sci-fi which is very cool. I like the red elements to this large beam weapon (or is a HBO satellite dish?). Great work Ross and welcome aboard for this year's run-in!

From ScottB - Beorn... in Man Form (The Hobbit) (7 points)

Beorn, the Skin Changer in the form of a Great man.

The is my second submission to the challenge which follows on logically from Beorn as a Bear, which I submitted first.

His pose here is as he is confronted by Gandalf and Bilbo as they leave his house, having over stayed there for the night, seeking shelter from a large black bear-like beast, Beorn himself!

If you haven't managed to see the Ext Ed of The Hobbit - Desolation of Smaug, try and do so , as this is a charming scene that pays credit rather nicely to the novel.

He is quite literally a great bear of a man, and must stand about seven or eight feet tall...

As we find later in the story, Beorn and his skin changer brethren have been hunted down, captured and tortured by Azog and his orcs, in the past, and Beorn bears the scars to show this. The model itself has vivid scars on his rear upper torso, and bears a manacle upon his wrist...

Just to get an idea of scale, Beorn is scaled at 28mm like the rest of GW LOTR/Hobbit range and is mounted on a standard 25mm round base. But when put adjacent a regular orc, you can see how tall he really is!

The model, is again, a multi-piece resin model, but went together rather well, with minimal trim required. I think I am getting used to these resin models!

Painting was fairly easy, but I really wanted to try and get the hair tone to match the dark brown, but with high light streaks of grey and blond... I hope I have done him justice.

Beorn, a wonderful character from the novel and the film.

From Curt:Ah, the perfect counterpoint to your debut entry of Beorn in Bear form. Beautifully done Scott! I think you've recreated his greying hair and beard wonderfully and I like the additions of the scarring on his back to reflect his time in captivity (though how the orcs kept him for any time at all is a complete wonder to me).  Well done!

From SanderS - 29th Deccan Horse (80 Points)

During the Christmas days I have finished the first entry for my side duel with Ben from Monsieur le Rosbif and Johnny Frog. While the both of us have the Napoleonic Wars as our main focal point, I am known to dabble in other periods and for this contribution I chose one of the new sets from HäT which is of 1:72 plastic Bengal Lancers. I have painted up 4 testfigures in colours of regiments I liked and decided to go with the 29th Deccan Horse.

This contribution should be worth 80 points seeing that it features 10 figures each worth 8 points each.

For my next contribution in this challenge, I will return to Napoleonics fore I am busy on 3 Prussian gun crews.

Cheers Sander

From Curt:Cracking work Sander! It's a good year for Bengal lancers and these certainly don't disappoint. The green uniform with the yellow and blue turban is very eye catching - wonderful stuff. Now we have to see what Ben comes back with as you two race to your 200 point duel...  

Note: Sander, If possible, please come back and put up a closer detail shot of a couple of these lads as I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to get a better look at them.  

From RoyW - 28mm: Two Men, a Woman and a Dog (18 points)

Hello everyone, Seasons Greetings and All The Very Best for 2015!

May I present for your viewing pleasure my latest painted offerings, in 28mm.

The first miniature is by Pulp Figures, from Canada. This miniature was purchased alongside an order for the limited edition Movember Charity figure, that Bob Murch produced during November 2014. Yes, I grew a big (ginger) moustache for the event, even though my family hated it!

The second figure is produced by Ironclad Miniatures, from Wales. It is part of their Victorian Sci-Fi character range and is named "Alan Quartermain". There is two issues with the sculpt, I found. One, the gun looks very weird, featuring no firing mechanism barring the trigger. Two, the fingers cradling the rifle are too short, appearing to be only sculpted to the first knuckle. Saying all that, I still love the mini'.

The third figure is again by Ironclad Miniatures, and is again part of their Victorian Sci-Fi range. The miniature is named "Dr. Watson". This is the first figure that I've managed to paint eyebrows on, that don't look out of place!

Lastly, and I'm going to include this figure even if it is omitted from the points, is a Warlord Games hound, from their Ancient Celts range. Warlord Games are based in England, if we're being pedantic.

Points wise: three 28mil' foot figures are worth fifteen points.
As to the dog, well if it produces any points I'll gratefully receive them.

From Curt:

Lovely work Roy! I really like your smooth paint style on these miniatures. I always have soft spot for Bob Murch's characterful sculpts and this one is no exception (I love the sense of her hacking through the jungle of some undiscovered South Pacific island). I  I've not seen anything from Ironclad Miniatures before and after seeing yours I'm definitely going to have to check them out. My favourite of the batch is your Dr. Watson. As you say, the (ginger) eyebrows really work on him, good call!