From PeterD - Fred and Ginger, plus 2 Bangers (30 Points)

I had a busy December so this is my first non-bonus round submission, and it’s figures that I actually had primed for last year’s challenge but didn’t proceed with any further.   

We have two Napoleonic 28mm siege cannon, a 12 pdr and an 18-24 pdr, both on fortress cannons.  They are made by Brigade models and match the similar pair that I did submit to last year’s challenge.  But honest they are different models (check the much chunkier rocks on the bases on tis year’s models).  They are very nice pieces; I will use them for War of 1812, FIW and SYW projects.

Also we have two 28mm civilians from Reaper, a barman a working girl.  I’ve christened the barman Fred as he looks like a Fred, plus I remember an odious barman named Fred from Coronation Street in the 80s.  So Fred needs a Ginger, which fits for obvious reasons.  Michael A did a much better job on this particular figure for a bonus round last year, so hopefully everyone else forgot about that by now.

I think that these add up to 30 points (10 each for the weapons and 5 each for the foot figures).

From Curt:
Ah, it's great to have you on the prime-time roster Peter - good work.  The barman is a great figure for so many periods and Ginger seems to be a perennial favourite (probably in more ways than one). I pity the poor bloody gunners who had to maneuver those two guns though that scree - I think mutiny is in the air.  :)

From MikeP - 15mm WWII Soviet Infantry (152 Points)

My third entry is a large batch of 15mm Soviet WW2 infantry.  Nothing really special here, just a small but vital Russian horde.  Most of these figures are Plastic Soldier Company, from their Russians in Summer Uniform box.  Mixed in with them are some Peter Pig figures (which don't count as I started them before the Challenge) and some figures from Battlefront.  I've been waiting until I had enough done to base them all.  All the bases are FOW-sized bases by 4Ground.  I like the green shade of them, and so have only added minimal flocking.

Also in this batch is one sprue's worth of the figures from the PSC Russian Infantry Heavy Weapons box.  A sprue provides a light, medium and heavy (81mm I think) mortar, a Maxim machine gun, and two 14.5mm anti-tank rifles, one deployed, one moving.  There is a No 2 for the deployed ATR, and I found a No. 2 for the moving ATR from the PSC infantry in summer dress set.

Some of the Battlefront figures.  I mostly kept them on their own stands since they are a little larger than the Peter Pig and PSC figures, though not fatally so.

And some of the Peter Pig figures (the riflemen on either end) advancing with a PSC LMG team and an intrepid frontline nurse.  The PSC infantry box gives one enough nurses to equip a small MASH.

Half of the SMG section.  Useful chaps to have when holding a village.

To paint these fellows, I used my airbrush to prime them all in Vallejo German Armour Yellow surface primer, which becomes the colour for the tunics.  The trousers are VJ Russian uniform, the helmets are VJ Russian green, and the rest is pretty simple.   When finished the whole figure is treated to Army Painter Strong Tone, and then given a shot of Dullcote once dry.  I'm not entirely happy with the Army Painter dip, I think it darkens the figures a bit too much.

As I said, nothing special about these fellows, except that they were in battle last Saturday, and didn't do too badly.  Here are some of my lads charging heroically to drive the fascists out of the village of Turnipograd (aka The Turnip Capital of South West Belorossiya).  Many heroes of the USSR fell in that charge.

My friend James, (half of J&M Miniatures and one of the sponsors of this Challenge), has an AAR of the battle of Turnipograd on his blog, where you can also see yours truly, appropriately dressed to lead the Red Army into battle.

Not counting the figures painted prior to the Challenge, I have 76 15mm foot figures here, for 152 points.  I don't think the mortars, ATRs or Maxim are big enough to count as crew served weapons.

From Curt:Wow, that is a nice body of work Mike (and great T-Shirt worn for the game I must say). It's very refreshing to see non-Battlefront bases being used for a change. As for 'The Dip' I'd suggest going over the figure with the original colour to help lift and soften the shading effect. Otherwise, as you say, the dip often darkens the figure too much. 

Again, great work!

From PaulS - Who you gonna call? (20 Points)

Over the years I've bought and been bought too many things that were "Gifts", rather than presents. You know the sort of thing. The bits that get put at the back of a cupboard and forgotten very quickly. This year I decided it was time for a change and painted up some bits for a couple of close friends.

The first was this great set of Ghostbusters from Crooked Dice. Unfortunately I had an accident with the spray varnish as it misted up. Thankfully a coat of hand painted gloss varnish managed to fix the problem... but I didn't have any flatter varnishes to take the shine off the models... hence the photos being a bit dark to counter this.

He was so pleased with them that 5 minutes after dropping off the parcel there was an excited post on facebook with the following photograph. Made my day :)

Slimer was painted before the Challenge was announced, so this should be 20 points. Not massive, but it's a start, right?

From Curt:
'He slimed me...' 
These are some very cool miniatures and you've done a cracking job on them Paul. I love the last pic from your friend with the Ghostbuster car - brilliant!

From MilesR - Secret Underground Depot....... (no points...)

One downside of the Challenge is miniature storage.  While the Challenge reduces the size of my lead mountain it does create figure display and storage issues.  This situation is further compounded by my wife's decree that I can not purchase any additional figure display cases or materials to build one - apparently a man cave can have too many (crazy isn't it?).  Sensing there was no ability to appeal my lovely, yet fierce, wife's decree (i got the look..),  I set about devising a clever way around her proscription with only the materials at hand - some 1x2 lumber, some quarter round moulding and a few miniature transport trays.  You can see the conceptual work in my hobby notebook scribblings - take care - gazing to hard at the crazed runes in my notebook has driven hardiest of us to the brink of madness.

 Rather than just build a simple storage unit, I elected to build a secret underground base in the style of a soviet bloc apartment building from the 1960's - you know square, ugly and with shoddy workmanship.  Like a leviathan rising from the deep, my creation began to take form....

 All nice and level....

Higher and higher go the rails

Wala' here is the completed skeleton of the beast.  I am sure that all of you are gazing in wonder at my creation and your faces have taken on the same visage that they bore the first time you gazed upon a dinosaur skeleton as a child.

Fully deployed under my gaming table - more figure storage without breaking my wife's edict that I can not purchase anything new.

So how does this qualify for points in this years Challenge?

Well, ummm, ahhh, you see.....

It's a secret multi story underground base that can pop up during game and shoot stuff up and junk like that.  Of course, I still need to cut an access panel in the table top, install some long drawer slides and a motorized pulley system plus add the guns but I'm almost there.

The unit is held in place by 2 wood screws and can slide out to be used for transporting large forces to convention games.  Each shelf will hold about 120 28mm scale infantry figures so I can hide - oops - I mean store a approx 2,000 infantry figures.  It was a simple project that took about 3 hours to complete.  The only power tool used was a hand drill (for pilot holes) - everything else was simple hand tools.

From Curt:
Well folks, we have to look on the bright side, last year it was a chair ...  

Okay Miles, once you've cut out the table-top access panel, installed a motorized pulley system and added some turrets then you can come back for some points.  

Otherwise... I must say I live in awe of people who can do good woodworking. This is a lovely piece of organizational funiture Miles and you did it in a few hours?! Incredible. I probably would have lit our house on fire in the attempt... 

If I can ask, what are the drawers made of and what dimensions? 

I'll have to bring to you Canada as a migrant worker so you can make a hobby table for me. I'll pay you in wine, steak and some snow - deal?

From PhilH: Egyptian Officer and SCW Priest (10 Points)

Here we are a few weeks in and Juan has built up quite a lead in our side challenge. So, do I bring a points bomb in response? Alas, I've been kept busy with more 1:1 scale painting around the home, so I've just a small offering this week.

First up, a rather dapper Egyptian officer for colonial Sudan. When I saw this chap at Salute, I just had to pick him up. Then, he sat in the box for last year's painting challenge, and for the nine months since.

He's based on his own as I don't have any other Egyptian officers (yet...). He's likely to find his way onto a larger command stand eventually. He is from the Gringo 40s 28mm 'Maximillian Adventure' range. A really fine sculpt with his gold braiding and enjoyable to paint once i finally sat down to do so!

Next up, my Spanish Civil War project begins with this armed priest.

He was a freebie from Empress miniatures because my club put in a large joint order. In fact, the order was so big that eight of him were included! Happily, there is a 'priest' option in the Chain of Command SCW support lists, so he will come in useful with my Requetes.

I'm keen to trial new methods for this project. First I'm reducing my use of washes as I think they slow my painting down quite a bit. So only one wash used on him, though he's a very simple paint job. I've also used a new colour for the highlights on the base: from 'Buff' to Vallejo 'Iraqi Sand'. I think it looks much better, but I'd be very interested what you all think. Unfortunately, it won't match my terrain, but that's already in a motley collection of colours as I've changed my bases a few times for different projects. I also used a slightly different flesh recipe which I'm not sure is an improvement, so will tweak further.

Hopefully I'll have more to bring next week - I'm still off work for a few days and really should devote more time to the brushes.

From Curt:Wow Phil, that Egyptian officer is the bomb! I love your work on his gold braid -  just beautiful.  I'm also delighted to see you debuting your Spanish Civil War project here. I really look forward to seeing your progress on this period. I must say I'm a bit jealous about this figure. I've ordered several kilos of white metal from Empress with no treats for me - must be that I'm from the Colonies (sniff). :)  Finally, I think your arid basework looks quite good, but perhaps it could be a bit lighter, or maybe its the image, I dunno.  

Nonetheless, all this backslapping aside, you're still getting plastered in your paint duel with Juan and then there's our little wager regarding Civil War figures (I have something on the horizon for that)... 

(Mercilessly cracks the whip!!)

From Millsy - 10mm & 28mm Fantasy (206 points)

I've been having a bit of a tidy up of the painting area, plus starting a couple of new projects at the same time. That means this post and my other one for this week will be a bit eclectic to say the least. To try and make some sense of it all I've grouped them into Fantasy (this post) and Sci-Fi (the other one).

First up here is another three Savage Orcs. We have a warboss on foot, a modified standard bearer (to act as the army battle standard) and one last spare chap to fill out a unit of 24. The warboss is sporting a rather jazzy hat made entirely of other people's teeth. And why not I say?

Next we have something I painted as a bit of light relief and because I was concerned about the repair work I had performed degrading. Three of these old-style Warhammer metal Dryads underwent major reconstruction after their previous owner broke them at the knees. Being old-style metal figs the lead content is much higher and they were oxidising rapidly and it appeared to be starting to affect the repairs so they got a little brushwork TLC.

There is a quite a lot of subtle colour variation in the paint job but it just won't photograph well enough to show unfortunately despite fiddling with the camera and some post-shoot work in Photoshop. Oh well.

So that's 11 x 28mm miniatures in total for 55 points.

The second half of this entry is chapter one of my latest project, an 10mm fantasy / medieval army using Warmaster Empire miniatures. I've removed a fair bit of the iconography i.e. skulls from the shields etc. as it is way over the top and I'm not a fan. I plan to add some stuff from Pendraken so I can use them as Dogs of War or a more historical late medieval army as well.

In total it's 36 knights, 72 halberdiers and 2 command stands (3 foot + two horse).

The halberdiers are gorgeous. Soooo much detail. And a nightmare to paint because of it. I very nearly lost my sh1t a couple of times painting them (and I still have another two to go! [sob])

The knights are just as nice but much easier to paint. My main blocks will be red/white with supporting units of various colours.

The command stands are pretty neat being a mix of mounted and foot. Apologies for the rubbish image but I wasn't going to set everything up again just to re-shoot one photograph :-)

So that's a total of 151 points of 10mm goodness for these chaps. Plenty more of them to come as that's about 20% of the total army I guess. Stay tuned for more!

From Curt: 

Oooh, lovely work Millsy. The Ork command group is excellent (still lovin' that blue facepaint) but I have to say that I'm quite drawn by these 10mm chappies you've done. I've always liked this scale for being able to covey the mass of formations while still being large enough to play a bit with small details (perhaps the worst of both worlds). You've done a brilliant job with them. I particularly like that turquoise knight unit - very sharp. What rules are you going to use with these? Warmaster or something else?

Oh, and Mr. Mills slips back into the lead with this one... 

From PeterT - A Mixed Bag (103 Points)

First up, all the best to everyone for a grand 2015.

A mixed bag for my third entry, reflecting (a) my butterfly tendencies and (b) the influence of the movie Lone Survivor, which I got for Christmas.

So first up are a SF group - they are actually a set of 28mm SAS from The Assault Group which have been languishing on the 'to do' pile for years. However, watching Lone Survivor gave me the impetus I needed to dig them out and paint them up. These figures are not quite as big as many of TAG's figures, and so fit in quite nicely with the Empress figures below. The figure with the sound suppressor on his M4 is inspired by the rifles so equipped in the movie mentioned above. It is actually from a the tube that carries the ink inside a disposable biro - somewhat overscale but I like it.

Next up area couple of Empress Miniatures 28mm US infantry. They follow on from the test figure I did for my second entry (thanks for the tips for improving the paint job), and so are painted in 3-colour BDU with Woodland camo body armour. Behind them is their ride, an Empress Humvee armed with a .50 cal HMG. The rest of the fireteam is on the painting table and may get added later on, if I finish them/am not distracted by something shiny.

The opposition is provided by 4 Radio Dish Dash Taliban in 28mm, which fit in perfectly with the Empress figures.

The bulk of my Taliban collection are TAG, which are much bulkier than these models. Just means I will have to buy more from Empress!

And finally, a platoon of WW2 Germans from Battlefront in 15mm. These are from the Volksgrenadier set for the Battle of the Bulge, but I also intend to use them for scenarios set on the Eastern Front in winter, such as Kharkov in 1943 and the Cherkassy pocket in 1944. One section and the CO were done before the Challenge, but are included here for completeness' sake.

This should net me 65 points for the 28mm stuff and 38 points for the 15mm Germans (two of whom are prone), for a grand total of 103 points.

PS - sorry about the light in the photos - it has been shedding down all day today and it is pretty gloomy!

From Curt - ‘Papa’ - Bernez Carro - Brother, Soldier, Father, Fisherman & Smuggler (5 Points)

 First, Happy New Year everyone - Here's to a Fabulous 2015!

This is another small entry from me, a continuation of my story of the Carro family which began with one of the sons, Donon. 

It was April 1916 and Bernez and Briec Carro were 20 years old when they marched down the Voie Sacree (the ‘Sacred Way’), to the inferno of Verdun. When they arrived at the front lines the twin brothers were assigned to different companies in order to reduce the chance of hard news for their mother. Nonetheless, the young men were inseparable and so they worked a few favours to get themselves assigned to the same squad. For the next few months they endured ferocious fighting in conditions that are best described as bestial. During this time they found that their officers treated them and their comrades like cattle and so the brave Poilu died by the thousand.

On July 12th at Fort Souville the Carro bothers were part of a forward listening post that became overrun by a German assault unit armed with flamethrowers. Knowing what was about to happen, Briec pushed Bernez into a sodden shellhole and took the full brunt of the liquid fire. Briec died horribly. The water in the shellhole was not deep enough to cover all of Bernez and so half of his body was lit aflame. After the German attack faltered and was beaten back Bernez was found and sent to an aid station. He had suffered severe burns to the left side of his body, for him the war was over. 

Bernez was invalided out of the army and he returned home to Brittany to convalesce. His childhood sweetheart, Manon, looked past his burns and insisted that they immediately marry. Donon, their first son, was born nine months later and Briec, their second boy, a year after that. In 1918 Bernez and Manon took over the family fishing business. Soon after his cousin, Lois from Marsailles, convinced him to expand into smuggling and so the Carros began to flourish. When their sons became old enough they were brought into the business as partners.

In the years following the Great War Bernez has nurtured an understandable dislike for Germans, but most of all he hates officers – all officers. It does not matter what nationality: German, French, Spanish, he despises all of them. So when in the summer of 1936 Spain’s right-wing generals, with the help of Nazi Germany, staged a coup to overthrow the Republican government, Bernez sees an opportunity to not only make a lot of money but also, in a small way, to poke his finger in the eye of those he reviles.

Bernez is a figure from Lead Adventure’s post-apoc range. I shaved off his left ear, scored his face and painted his burn scars a livid purple/pinkish tone. I really like the pose of this model. He’s a commanding figure, straight-backed and taciturn but leans forward somewhat, stiff-jointed, like many older men do. He holds a Luger behind his back just in case matters go awry. I painted his coverall trousers yellow in order to tie him in with the figure of his first son, Donon.

...and 5 points for me as I 'rocket' past Simon.  :)