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 IanW - 6mm British Napoleonic Rifle Battalions (24 Points)

Now for the small stuff, I have painted up these two battalions of rifles for my nine year old's growing Peninsular army. They are Baccus 6mm and needed very little clean up work.

First up the 60th Rifles who tend to get over shadowed by the 95th due to the Sharpe novels. Shame really as I think the red facings make them a better looking unit.

Talking of the 95th, here they are with a few more out front skirmishing the poor French. Each base has 24 figures making for a total of 24 point's as I make a move on my second side challenge.

Ahh, our 6mm specialist, excellent. These look marvelous, Ian. I can clearly visualize the mullets, hear the churning guitars of 'Over the Hills and Far Away' while I peer into the ranks of the 60th to see if I can spot Sweet William. ;) 

Well done and 24 points for you!

From IgnacioR - 28mm Mordheim Skaven (30 Points)

First entry, I´ve been really busy at the office but I managed to paint some rats, I custom made the bases so the whole band will look like walking around the city of damned.

My first idea was to work on a 40k army, but my friends are in a Mordheim campaign and I wanted to have a warband as soon as possible, so here are four Verminkin with slings and two night runners.

Really funny to paint them, the skin of one Night Runner its a little bit darker cause I'm gonna try to use different skin tones to give some variation to the warband. Now I just need to paint fourteen more...

I also think my cat is shock cause I'm painting rats...

Haha! Yes, you cat does look in shock. Perhaps (s)he can make a debut in your Mordeim campaign as Giant Cat that's been mutated by the Wyrdstone.  

Very nice work Nacho. I quite like the flesh tones of your Skaven and those custom bases are really fabulous. Is there a puddle on the one in the second last image? Very cool.

30 Points for you Nacho, and welcome aboard!

From AlexS - Mercenary Longbowmen & Russian Line Infantry Battalion (210 points)

A unit of hired archers manufactured by the Perry brothers, who will be part of my army of Venice. I tried to make them the same as the previous unit.

Russian line infantry battalion to 1812. Once again Perry brothers - in my opinion, the best manufacturers of plastic on the historical wargames, although they have small errors. I'm having difficulty with the right green - he was more light than necessary. Hopefully, next time will be better.

Total - 42 miniatures and 210 points.

Wow, it would seem that we have several participants who are swinging for the parking lot this year! Great work Alex. I particularly like that Russian line battalion, though I think they've left the depot without their banners!  The Czar will be most displeased... ;)

From MartinC - I'll Raise You Another Impi (120 Points)

Work's party yesterday so a little peaky today. Now off work for 2 weeks, so I get to do some painting - which is nice.

Finished another Impi today. These 24 Zulus are the umKhuse regiment in their Sunday go to meeting clothes. These were a pain as 12 figures don't fit on a single 80x60mm base so I had to cut off a lot of their hands before attaching the shields to make them fit.

Great work Martin! I know you had to do a bit of fiddling about to fit them all on the base, but they do look fabulous ranked-up in a tight mob. Again the grass is a great touch and I like the red shields on these fellows. 

This impi will give you 120 points to add to your tally. I have a strange feeling we'll be seeing more of these fierce chaps coming over the horizon...

From PaulS - Dead rising... (45 Points)

Congratulations to everyone who has already managed to submit entries. It's taken a lot of effort for me to even finish these 9! For the first time ever I've opted to partake in some side challenges as some extra incentive to push things a bit. So what's up first?

The first batch off the painting table are all 28mm fantasy figures from the core Dungeon Saga set. We have three skeleton warriors and 6 zombies. All are based on clear acrylic bases, which is my standard fare for skirmish models.

The skeletons are nigh on identical in pose to the classic Heroquest skeletons... though a little bit more in proportion. You would, theoretically, be able to fit one of these inside the barbarian character. I'll do a side-by-side comparison when the heroes get painted. 

Then we have some classic style zombie peasants

And some more feral looking zombies that look far more like Mantic's ghouls... so I can see them changing role once the Zombicide: Black Plague zombies start to be painted up.

For the side challenges only 2 of each count towards the Dungeon Saga side challenge as the others were KS bonuses, but all of them are useful for Frostgrave and that side-challenge. 9 figures should total up to 45 points, which is less than I wanted for the opening shot, but is better than nothing :)

These are some wonderful looking undead, Paul, if 'wonderful' can be used to describe undead... Hmm, I'm sure for some Lich Lord undead are perfectly wonderful... The shading on the skellies' bones and zombies' purifying flesh is excellent and I really like the glowing eyes. I'm also a big fan of your clear bases as I love the minimalist look of them. For me, I'm afraid old habits die hard, and I'm just too used to doing my own groundwork, that I couldn't take the plunge with this approach (I'd miss the tufts and rocks!). This provides a great aesthetic though...

45 Points for your climb up the roster Paul! 

From AdamC - Hagman the Sharp Shooter (5 Points)

Another Frostgrave entry this time a "Soldier" or adventurer as I prefer to think of them. This particular one is a Marksman (or he could work as a Crossbowman, both are soldier types in the original Frostgrave)

I put him in green leggings and shirt sleeves of the sort an 18th Century Jager or a Rifle regiment soldier of the Napoleonic wars might wear.  I made his outer garment light blue, then a heavy wash followed by a white/gray dry brush to create as sort of cammo a smart warrior would wear in a snow covered land.

 

I name my Frostgrave soldiers and this fellow is called Hagman after the sharpshooting poacher from the Sharps novels.

He's a great figure Adam. His face has loads of character and he certainly looks the business in his winter camo, crossbow up, ready to feather some fierce reindeer or some poor fat sod in a red suit clambering around on rooftops. ;o)

5 points for you. Well done.

From Millsy - 28mm Norman Crossbowmen (40 points)

Right, time to get the show on the road for this year...

My first submission is eight x 28mm Crusader Miniatures Norman Crossbowmen for my SAGA force. Black undercoat and a mix of blending and dry brushing painted these up nice and quick. The colours are a little bright but that's deliberate on my part as these are more gaming pieces than an attempt at historical colours.

Nice enough sculpts although one of the four poses is a little pin-headed. Some might say that's an accurate reflection of his nature as a Norman.

Before people ask the church in the background is a scratch build from my collection on Dark Age terrain. More about it here and here and finally here if you're interested...

Not quite the epic points bomb I'd normally like to kick off with but in light of my "low key modus operandi" this year this is most appropriate. It might also be something to do with the fact that I've also been painting 21 Norman cavalry too but had already made a start on them pre-Challenge so can't submit them. Planning? Me? <ahem>

Thanks for looking and have a safe and enjoyable holiday people!

Cheers,
Millsy

Ahhh, the Mills-Monster strides onto the stage, most eaaaxcellent. Hmm, this means the Dave-Daemon must not be far behind...

Normans! Now, that's something I wasn't expecting from you, Millsy. These look very nice indeed. Super bright and colourful, but very nice indeed. Indeed, these chaps look almost too posh, very CMYK actually - they must get hints from Pantone to what will be chic du jour for this year's jerkin colours. ;)

Seriously, great stuff Millsy. How many of these crop-haired loons do you have to do to complete your SAGA warband? Even though they can't be scored, you should show us your Norman cavalry, and while you're at it,  give us a better shot of your church next time around.

40 points for your opening gambit, Mr. Mills. Well done.

From AaronH - Six 28mm Uruk-Hai (30 Points)

In keeping with tradition, my first entry is six models. It's a nice easy number that breaks the rust off without being overwhelming.

These are 28mm Isengard Uruk-Hai warriors from Games Workshop. I've been puttering away at this army for over a decade. In the last year I've added some much needed models, but more on those later in the Challenge.

This entry is just six rank and file troopers. Five sword and shield and one pike.

Two of the guys at the local store built Helm's Deep. It's one of the best models I've seen of the fortress. Naturally we need to have a lot of Uruks to fight out the siege.

Pike from the rear.

I paint my troops to match the description from the books, not the movies. That means a black circle with the white hand on the shield and an elvish S rune on the helmet.

"There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands.  They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men.  Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal."

There will be more Uruks coming across the table during the Challenge, but for now, on to other forces.

Welcome aboard Aaron!

It's great to see your traditional half-dozen enter the fray, and Uruks no less. :) I've always liked that you paint your troops in light of the books rather than the films. Not that I have anything against the movies, I think they're excellent, but I enjoy your Old Skool vision of the project. Perhaps the perfect marriage would be this approach done with the venerable Mithril Miniature range (though I could see that becoming an expensive endeavor).

These Lads of Saruman will give you 30 points. Nice job Aaron!

 

From AdamC - The Necromancer and his Crew (75 Points)

My first entry of the Challenge and my first elemental bolt (or perhaps bone dart) of the Frostgrave Duel. (If your not familiar with Frostgrave take a look at my review  and battle reports)

First up is the Necromancer himself one of the official Frostgrave Wizards from Northstar that I got as part of the "Thaw of the Lich Lord Nickstarter." 

He might be painted a bit brighter than one normally thinks of with a Necromancer but I have found out that the white and gray of a typical Frostgrave board I have found bright colours look really good on the board.  He looks like he might hold some link to nobility, that hat suggests a crown.

The Apprentice is painted in a similar fashion to suggest a uniform or livery (or maybe school colours).

Of the two I think the Necromancer is the better figure but this one has a lot of character as well.  Consulting a book in the midst of a battle seems very nerdy.

Finally we have two sets skeletons.  The first is in Red and Purple suggesting a livery maybe our Necromancer has bit of Martinet streak or maybe they were part of the same adventuring band or military unit back when they lived.  These guys are all form the Frostgrave "Undead Encounters" pack from Northstar and will probably see a lot of action on the gaming table.

The second group of skeletons is from the same set but I wanted some more variety as I am not painting traditional gaming units but individual skeletons that most of the time are encountered in ones or twos wandering Frosgrave.

 I call the two on the left the former Green Knights. 

The one on the right I call the former Raven knight both for the heraldry I did and the companion he has on his head.

I really like the one bursting out of the ground and the rat skeleton is cools as non-human undead are always a nice addition.  The one that is a back bone growing out of a still juicy torso is sort of nasty.

The forth figure in light blue is actually form the Cultist sets but with skeletal arms and a head. Maybe this Cultist has received his promised "immortality" from the the Lich lord.

In all we have 75 points worth of figures here (15 28mm figures two living and 13 undead) assuming full points for the rat and half points for the skeleton bursting out to the ground and the guy who is just a pair of legs with a backbone and skull.

Lovely work Adam and welcome to the carnival! 

I've not yet taken a look at 'Frostgrave', but it seems to have captured the imagination of many in our hobby, which is no small feat.

All of these models are great, but I have to say I really like the last set of bony fellows - there are some pretty creepy undead constructs there. Yikes!

 A well-earned 75 points to start your ascent up the roster. Well done!

From KyleC - 28mm USMC Forces Arriving... (310 Points)

Boom... off goes some shells from the distant island, as the USMCs begin their landing for assaults...

My first units to get painted in this new force, after several weeks of assembly to get them ready for this competition. Spent a good amount of time on them over the last few days to get to this point, and still have a few more to go before the infantry section is finished. So expect to see more of these guys in the coming week or so.. The vehicle detachment might be a bit later before they get some work on them as I want to tackle as much of the other infantry sections as possible first :)

Currently this gives me 4 full infantry squads of Marines. Each with 3 SMGs, 3 Bars, 3 Shotguns, and 4 rifles. The NCOs are all carrying SMGs in this case.

I have a few special weapons in among them as well.. including a guy holding a MMG, a Forward Air Observer, and a guy pointing to where the bazookas should fire.. now just to paint up the bazookas...

The 2 commanders are also there... looking grim at the situation in front of them.

I also have some converted Italian command modes to go with the Americans, as well as a nice flamethrower for bunkers and house clearing.

The models are a mix of Warlord plastics/Metals, and Artisan Metals that I got off of eBay recently. They are apparently airborne, but once painted up like the marines you can barely tell really.

Already looking forward to when they will be baptised by blood in a game..

I did attempt some photographs on the gaming mat, but they didn't turn out as good ( bad lighting )... but they also blend in well to it, so that is a plus to me (for gaming at least! ).

All in all, we have 4x13 man infantry units, 5 HQ models, 5 Special weapon models giving me 62 models in 28mm scale in total finished already... let's get some more done over the holiday break coming up shall we? :)

Wow, that is a lot of olive green. Another point bomb to shake up the roster, eh? Excellent work Kyle. Are there Japanese in the works as well? Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing the rest of this project come to fruition. Put on 'The Pacific' and keep it coming!