From TamsinP - Are You The Burgermeister? (156 points)

Yes

Ekzellent. I am the aide to General Orlov. We request that your town provide our army with 40 wagons of horse fodder, 10 of horse grain, 5 each of wheat and rye for making bread, 100 barrels of beer, 40 sides of beef and 200 slaughtered pigs.

I'm afraid that's simply not possible.

Oh dear! You see, we have some...

Cossacks?!?!?

Yes, Would you like to meet them? I know that they would love to visit your town. Why, just the other day, their hetman was telling me that he'd love to see the collection of gold and silver ornaments in your - his words - exquisite little church...

Errrmm, that won't be necessary. So that was 80 wagons of horse fodder, 20 of horse grain, 10 each of wheat and rye for bread, 200 barrels of beer, 80 sides of beef and 400 slaughtered pigs. Would you care for some wine for your officers? Some brandy?...


Aaahh, Cossacks. Great for bulking out your army and pursuing routed enemy units; not so good in pitched battle; frankly useless in the main light cavalry role of reconnaissance and screening your army's advance. However, a wise general could use the mere threat of them to extract "contributions" from towns along the route of march - they had a reputation for looting and burning.

But on with the pics and stuff.

For this, my seventh entry (including bonus rounds) in this year's Challenge I present the first of the irregular cavalry for my Seven Years War Russian army - 39 Cossacks.

Compared to the rest of the army, these were a beggar to paint and took a bit longer than expected. That's the trouble with irregular, non-uniformed forces which I always seem to find myself painting. One of these days...

For King of the Battlefield rules, it is suggested that irregular cavalry be distinguished by having 2 figures per base instead of 3 so that's what I've gone for and it gives me 6 regiments.

Plus a Cossack command stand.

I was tempted to go for the usual 3 per base, but with the lances they would have been rather cramped so I'm glad I did it this way.

The figures are all Essex and a mix from their Seven Years War and Napoleonic ranges to add some variety of poses.


Thirty-nine 15mm cavalry should net me 156 points. Not quite a points bomb, but I did submit one for the "East" bonus round this weekend.


MilesR: Cossacks on a Monday?  I think there never a bad day for cossacks and these wonderfully painted figures really do the trick for me.  Perhaps my favorite post of the day.

Logistics on a Cold Planet (ClintB) (23 points)

Well as many of you will recall I am working on a frozen planet for some 6mm (1/300thscale) Sci Fi fun. Some people will have seen this and switched off and I do not blame them sci fi is not for everyone. For those of you still here I will continue.

For todays outing I have 4 armoured cars. Two of these will be "SCOUT" transport. (you can see the two scout stands in the last picture but close up they were not in focus. The other two will be dedicated support for my AA trucks! (Not shown today) and Convoy protection. These 4 are GZG figures I picked up some years ago and I may even have the turrets on back to front as I cannot remember what they are supposed to be!

In my last SCW game I was short of trucks. so determined to learn by my mistakes here are 4 flatbed trucks. These are all the figures below are brigade models there are an equal number still to paint but as yet I have not determined my opposing force or what the camo will be like. Anyway these are South African "Hippo" Flat beds and are simple 2 piece castings.

Yep 2 more. One with a tanker body and one with a passenger or office body. I got them all in a pack so 1/2 for each side I guess. But I did enjoy the Tanker body so I may get a couple more just for the fun of painting!

And lastly we have the logistics force together along with the 2 scout stands on the right. I will admit I am enjoying this project so I can admit there will be some more along shortly.

 A total of 10 6mm vehicles and 4 infantry this time out. And if anyone knows what my opposing force should be feel free to comment. With the first force being CDSU (Chinese Democratic Socialist Union). All the best Clint

MilesR: Yet more for Clint today in the form of additional near future Chinese support units. 

AdamC 3 Monks (15 Points)

These are three Monk's from a package labeled "Vampire Wars Brother hood" I think they are old West Wind Games figures but I am not sure.  They were part of a bargain bin the local store has from another shop that went out of business.  They are 25mm and should work for many historical periods form the dark ages to the Napoleonic period (or even latter in some cases).

 

The first fellow looks like a young monk he has a huge ax that will be hard to manage while hanging onto that torch.  He doesn't have the rope around his robes... perhaps indicating a lower rank?  

Next up is a rather scary looking cowled monk with an ax that looks like he might double as an executioner.  As you can might notice below there was an imperfection in the casting on his back but I think it still works

This last monk is an aggressive looking fellow with a blade that looks like a really big knife, I think maybe its supposed to be a Seax.   He's got a smaller one tied to his hip should he need it.  I can't help but think this guy my be a reformed bravo of some sort  who has taken up his old tools to defend his fellow brothers.

These three fellow should add another 15 points to my steadily growing pile of points.

MilesR: 3 of 4 posts from Adam - a group of over zealous monks (is there any other kind) ready to rid the world over evil and net Adam a tidy 15 points while doing so.  Thats a theological win-win to me.

Zulus (Again) ClintB (82 points)

Yes I know more Zulus. This time no not hundreds, only 82. This is I hope enough to play the game I have planned (along with the ones painted previously in the challenge AND the ones done BEFORE the challenge even started.

Anyway they are a mix of New Line Designs and Pendraken miniatures, but mostly New Line Designs. They are all 10mm or 1/200th scale and should bring the force up to critical mass sufficient to play a game or two. Well that is the plan.

I have kept with my convention of mostly brown and white shields as they did make up the bulk of the tribe that did attack Rorkes Drift Station. But there are 5 small stands with all brown shields to represent the rifle armed Zulus,  1 stand (6 figures of white shield Zulus to finish of the unit shown earlier in the challenge and one small stand of Black shield and headdress Zulus to finish of that unit as well.

Yes Before anyone asks I do have more to paint, but I think not for a while as other projects are getting neglected. So my remaining Zulus will be left for now and I will get on with some more interesting projects. I am not saying I will not come back to these but rather that for now I have finished.

82 in all. at 10mm should be an additional 82 points. Nothing fancy just nearly 3 packs of Zulus finished based and ready to be put away.

MilesR: One of 2 posts from Clint today - another giant passel of Zulu's - really nicely done

From AlexS: Napoleonic. (402 points)

Hello everybody. My name is Alex and I decided today to maintain its reputation. After all, the reputation - very important!

So I decided to remind everyone that I was the crazy Russian who paints miniatures 100,500 per night, if not drinking vodka and does not play the balalaika. :)

So, let's begin!

The first battalion of the Baden infantry of the line from the magnificent manufacturer Murawski miniatures. I got them for participation in the last event, and as a matter of honor to paint and show them to all participants. Miniatures really delicious, especially stands out pathetic officer.

Secondly, the garrison battalion of Russian infantry from Perry Miniatures. Brothers made really beautiful miniatures, although made little inaccuracies, including hats. But we still love their work.

Finally the Prussian Landwehr battalion from Warlord. Excellent miniature (though they are too large hands, but perhaps they are calling in the army blacksmiths).

General view:

Total:
1 cav - 10 points
78 inf - 390 points
in all: 400 points

MilesR: Another fantastic points bomb which may put you in a well deserved lead position, or damn close to it (not sure what DaveD has up his sleeve).  I would a picture of your fully assembled armies - I'm sure it's breathtaking.  Very Well done, Sir.  Oh, I threw in 2 points for the flags.

From LeeH - Greek & Sicilian Hoplites (48 Points)

The latest addition to my Pyrrhic Army are a couple of units of Hoplites and compared to the Pike Phalanxes I painted recently these were a doddle! The detailing on these figures is very good and perfectly suits my approach to painting 6mm models making them a pleasure to paint.

Hoplites were the citizen soldiers of the Ancient Greek city states and were primarily armed as spearmen. Their name derives from the Hoplon, the round shield used by these troops. Like the Pike units I completed recently the Hoplites fought in a Phalanx, a close order formation that relied on discipline and training for its effectiveness.

I have painted two units one is in white armour with white shields with coloured designs on them. The other unit are veterans from Akragas in Sicily. I wanted to paint these with black armour but I didn't like the look of plain black so instead I opted to use a dark blue. With an ink wash over the top these look almost black but with just a hint of definition and detail.

I actually had both these units more or less finished a week ago but I have been waiting for some decals to arrive in the post. I have often painted shield designs by hand in the past but a recent disaster convinced me that painting detailed designs on a shield no more than 3 mm diameter was a route to madness! In a last minute change of heart I opted only to use the coloured decals (from Baccus) on the white shields, but hand painted slightly cruder designs on the Black shields. I'm quite chuffed with the results so I think I made the right choice.

Two bases of 96 infantry figures should earn me a respectable 48 points and move me another step closer to my overall target.

MilesR: These are really exceptionally well done.  I struggle with 15mm - I just don't know how you can paint 6mm so well.  Color me impressed!

From LeeH – Pyrrhus of Epirus and Hellenistic Generals (13 points)

Hannibal listed Pyrrhus of Epirus as one of the greatest military men of his age yet today we remember this Hellenistic King for his costly victories. Pyrrhus was a man born to a great potential destiny in 318BCE and spent much of his early life struggling to regain his father’s throne in Epirus.

I have tried to replicate in miniature a picture I found online of Pyrrhus, complete with Leopard skin saddle blanket! 

Compared to Alexander (whom he greatly admired and was related to on his mother’s side) Pyrrhus was ultimately a failure. He failed to achieve his overall strategic aims against Macedonia, failed to win against the Romans and was eventually killed in battle while attacking the city of Argos. But for all this he was described as an inspired leader, was one of the first serious threats to the early Rome Republic, campaigned successfully in Southern Italy, Sicily and Greece and wrote several well respected books (now lost) on the art of war.

I made a slightly larger base for this larger than life General. Other lesser Generals are based on round bases as usual while individual heroes are based singly and on smaller round bases.

So we have 10 mounted figures and six infantry so this lot should net me a tidy 13 points.

MilesR: Great command groups and heroes - still waiting to see the full group shot

AdamC- Some More Musketeers (45 Points)

More War Lord Plastics in 25mm. After I finished the Gray and Blue regiments I learnt that Pikeman's Lament units consisted of either 12 pike men or 12 musketeers not a mix of both... oups! 

I don't have extra Pikemen but musketeers are a different story so I painted up two more men for each regiment.

That gives them 10 Musketeers so with an officer and a musician or sergeant and they will give me two musket regiments.  The pike men will get mixed together giving me three infantry "regiment" in the game  

I had still more men left over from the box so they are also painted up.  Dressed in Green and Red they can represent a unit of light infantry.

As you can see three of them have Scottish type bonnets so they might be highland mercenaries.

I'll mix these guys in with some other musketeers to make an additional unit.

A gentleman volunteer.  He is better dressed then the typical soldier but has a ordinary soldiers bandoleer.

He also has a fine brass powder flask (probably for his pistol).

In the excitement of the assault he has discarded his Musket and is going in with pistol and sword. There is a total of 9 figures here adding 45 Points to my total.

MilesR: Yet more from Adam C (and there's even more after this!

AdamC-Halfling Slinger (5 Points)

This old Ral Partha figure was resurrected form my dead lead pile.  I don't recall much about him but I know a friend of mine picked him out for a D&D game years ago.  He was painted once but then the paint job got ruined (I don't recall how).  He came back to me and was linger until I stripped the old paint this fall to use in this challenge.

I went with basic colors, nothing to fancy just a Hobbit out for a walk with his short sword and trusty sling.

I think I will use this guy in my new Frostgrave Campaign as an "archer."  This 25mm halfling should net me 5 points.

MilesR: A Halfling is a great way to start on Magnificent Monday and Adam delivers the goods.  Ral Partha - now that takes me back!

Magnificent Monday Returns!

That's right hombres, Mondays back with a giant saddle bags with of 17 posts from 9 different Challengers.  Whatever ever kind of miniature action your looking for, we've got it.

But first a musical interlude in what may be the greatest musical score ever written for a movie.  Elmer Bernstein deserved the Oscar he won for this magnificent composition.  It almost seems like he really wrote it for today:

Yes only a villain like Calvera wouldn't be inspired by that musical interlude or the action packed day on miniature painting prowess that has come to typify Mondays.

We've got 1,500 points of pure Vallejo pigmented joy coming at you faster that a switchblade thrown by James Coburn.

Make way other days of the Week for Monday is coming in all it's technicolor brilliance.  It's even better than a John Sturges directed movie.