From SanderS: More Dark Ages stuff (164 Points)

Hoi,

Since this will be my last regular post, I have some more in preparation for Curt to post during the weekend, it seems only fitting to sincerely thank our loyal and capable Friday Minion Phil, ably supported by Sylvain whenever necessary. It was great doing this Challenge together and I really value your feedback and fresh points of view on my work. Your continued goading kept me on my toes and producing to the last. It will remain exciting for me whether I will reach my end-goal of 1500 points though...

In order to try and reach my target of 1500 points I will submit a large part of my left over Dark Ages figures. Most of these are civilians and some animals, the larger part is from Gripping Beast with some others mixed in for good measure.

The shepherds:

Guys hauling stuff around:

The kids:

The ladies:

Lifestock:

I also managed to get some of my Carolingian cavalry done. Since I will use them with Dux Britanniarum, they are grouped in 4 man units. I managed to get one of those finished today.

I really have learned to like these Carolingians and these cavalry are no exception. 4 more and a mounted champion are still in the works right now, let's hope I get them done in time.
Now on to the points, 4 mounted models is 40 points, the other 24 figures will get me another 120 points, together totalling 160 points.

Cheers and have a good last few days of Challenge time!

Sander

Ah you're very welcome Sander, it's been a pleasure shepherding and cheerleading the Friday crew including yourself as one of the stalwards, submitting an entry every week, I think? Goading though, surely not?! Just some gentle encouragement, and it's worked, with you pulling out all the stops for a big last Friday entry. 

these will be nice table dressing or objectives, I like the shepherds with their crooks and their flock in particular. Those Carolingians are brilliant too, such a great colour scheme of red and bone. I'm going to top up your tally for the shield designs, as they look hand painted to me. Which puts you at 1341 towards your 1500 tally - it'll be down to the wire for sure! 

Best wishes,
Minion Phil

From KenR : Blakes 7 Baddies (70 Points)

My bonus TV round covered the "Good" guys and girls of the classic 70s Sci Fi programme Blakes 7. It is therefore no great surprise that one of my next entries is the remainder of the cast, this time the evil (boo, hiss) Federation.

So here we have 14 Men, women, mutoids and a Robot to fight against Blake and his renegades all in glorious heroic 28mm which should convert nicely into 70 lovely points.

Federation Officer and 2 Mutoids

The figures were purchased from Crooked Dice Miniatures but as mentioned in my Bonus Round post these figures have split away to be made by a new company called Beast in the Broch.

Servalan and Commander Travis x2

So now these are done I have a couple of casts to have a go at the 7TV rules, they certainly look good on a read through so I have high hopes for them.

Federation Trooper and Robot

So that's two for the final week, one more post for Final Friday coming up !

Alas, as a (relatively) young'un, this revered sci-fi series was waaaay before my time, so I don't think I'll be able to offer much in the way of knowledgable views. I'm glad your goodies have someone to face off against, and these certainly look like ne'er'do'wells: it's the black and guns that does it. 'Servalan' and 'Mutoids' sound appropriately evil to me aswell, but Commander Travis, really?  Hummm

Very neat painting with a limited palette and a 70 point boost to your tally.

Phil

From KenR: 28mm SCW Moroccan Regulares Part 2 (141 Points)

One of three posts for me in this final week. These were ready for last week but work meant I never had chance to get any photos done or a blog post up.

Now these may look familiar as I finished another unit of these a couple of weeks ago, these are definitely a different unit ! There isn't much to say about these that wasn't said last time.

Figures are 28mm and the 4 command figures are from the old Force of Arms range whilst the remaining 24 are from North Star, chuck in a flag and that will be a cool 141 points to push me towards 1500. Maybe I should have gone for the SCW side duel, I think I might be in front.

Both units completed during the challenge together and ready for action at Jarama (when the Baltic Naval Campaign finally ends)

Good evening Ken! I've been thoroughly enjoying how much SCW we've seen this challenge, and it's been a pleasure seeing yours. You've captured these Regulares very well, and your basing looks bang on for Spain to me. The flag in this latest batch is unusual, is there a story behind it?

141 Points for your tally, and I hope these perform adequately at Jarama (I'd be rooting for the Republican underdogs though)

Phil 

Friday Minion, One More Time

Well, we're almost there. The finish line is in sight. Curt will take over to curate the final burst of posts, so do please keep them coming over the weekend. 

I feel dogs have featured heavily over this challenge, so to bring some balance, have cat

The esteemed Friday Crew have drafted up a whole bunch of lovely stuff that I get to share with you, including:

• KenR with Moroccan Regulares and cavalry for the SCW and baddies for his 'Blake's Seven' project
• Sander still in the Dark Ages
• A whole miscellany throughout the ages from GrahameH
• VictorK with some Roman Velites
• ...and a guest appearance by Curt (which is already up - cheeky Curt!)

Will that be it? Or will Keith sweep in at the last with another selection of fantasy monsters? 

And with that, I'll just say thanks to the Friday crew for all your hard work, excellent painting, words and good humour: AndrewB, ChristopherSm, EricM, GrahameH, IanW, JamesonP, KeithS, KenR, MartinN, MattT, MikeA, ReneA, RobH, SanderS, StefanK, SteveM and VictorK. You might not have the sheer productivity of the Monday Crew (part of me is glad of that, I'll admit), but you all made it through the Challenge Cut, and Grahame and Eric are representing in the top 10, as the standings currently stand. 

Finally, thanks to my co-minion, Sylvan for stepping in when I wasn't able, and Curt for masterminding the fun and shenanigans of the Challenge as a whole this seventh time. 

FRIDAY Tribute to DavidB: Home of Uncle Owen & Aunt Beru

For those who may have missed it, this was my entry for our 'Home' theme this year, but more importantly it is also my gift to David for his fabulous efforts as our Thursday Minion. I wanted to have a clean sweep of tributes this week so it's getting some extra press.

As many of you know David is an enthusiastic supporter of the Painting Challenge. He always has something complimentary and supportive to say for each of the hundreds of entries that roll-in each year. He really is a boon to the whole event. Thanks David.

David and I are both huge fans of Star Wars, and as such I thought a quiet scene from Tatooine might spark for him the nostalgia for the early days of the Skywalker saga. 

As I mentioned in my original post, these started as 3D computer designs which I re-scaled, edited and mashed before printing them off.

I hope you like this little vignette David - it was a lot of fun to work on. Thanks again for your all your good-natured help during the Challenge. I hope we see both you and your brood for next year's edition.

Yup, pretty much my expression the FIRST time I seen this piece. I'd use an actual photo of myself, but Potawatomi don't really have the proper complexion for blushing!  ;)

Although I do like calling myself Darth Brom and I am pretty keen on all things Vader and stormtrooper, Luke is my favorite character as he has never stopped trying. He also initially sought adventure far from his small universe on an isolated moisture farm in the desert. He discovered a huge universe bigger than his imaginings with vast shades of grey dividing black and white. I do think(considering the last movie and his place of hermitage)he thinks of home. The distance of time with the passing of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru has diminshed the faces, but the happy thoughts and childhood dreams have seeped into the farm and the long sold speeder both of  which will always be home and where the heart resides.

Thank you very much, Curt! This little bit of Home will have pride of place in my Star Wars case! 

 

Gendarmes and a drummer Iain W Ready! (40pts)

Final Thursday post and I have 3 mounted figures and 1 infantryman all in 28mm, however what these chaps do is finish off units , I had 3 units of Foundry Gendarmes all short 1 figure, extension building on my house means spending is at least temporarily curtailed. I remembered I had some late 15th century horsemen of unknown make purchased from Ebay, horses were a problem, the Perry plastic horses I was going to use were just too dynamic next to the Foundry horses. So what I have ended up doing is a "cut and shunt" Warlord ECW horses which I like , heads cut off and replaced with Perry armoured heads from their plastic kit and barding likewise, a bit of hacking and gluing and job done!

They are not too dynamic and I think fit in well enough with the Foundry Gendarmes ( who's colour schemes I mostly pinched from James Roach/Olicanalad's brilliant Italian wars armies) I've added an overpainted flag for each unit as well.

I've also painted a drummer, a perry plastic figure from their fantastic continental mercenaries box. With a metal Swiss head.

I needed him to complete a unit.

They are a really lovely plastic set!
 In addition to getting me to paint figures , the challenge has encouraged me to get the figures out of storage that I have been painting for the last 3 years and wrapping and almost forgetting about them, I've started basing my 144 Spanish , my Landsknechts and my artillery, all painted and lying in cardboard boxes waiting for the challenge to release them. So thank you very much Curt!
Working on my Curtgeld which will be my last entry . This post also means I have reached my target.
All the best
Iain W




Iain, this is a very nice send off and with accompanied army pictures too! The splendid job of conversions is only made better by the brushwork following. Those gendarms are really grand and with three regiments, I think someone is about to hear" the delicate sound of thunder" !
The masses of pike are pretty slick too!
When I first started this challenge a few years ago I had a massive case filled with an army often used, but never painted. I finished most of it that first season. Curt told me that THAT is what this is all about....and jokes, deadlines, camaraderie, and the sheer spectacle of miniatures on parade.
It is an impressive amount of Italian War stuff you have kicked out this season. The pictures above speak well for the effort. The fact that they were in storage for so long just makes the achievment all the sweeter! And we still have a few days to go....a Curtgeld and a regiment or two? ;)

From Michael P: At the Court of the Elven Queen (25 pts)

My final Thursday entry includes these four 28mm female elves from the fantasy range of the UK's Heresy Miniatures.   I entered two other Heresy figures earlier in the Challenge, and continue to be impressed by this company.  Their sculpts are delicate, graceful, and are great fun to paint.


These four elven ladies will be leader and character figures for my LOTR collection as well as for my elven army in Dragon Rampant, which has a decidedly matriarchal theme.  I am hoping that the lovely Sarah will smile kindly on one of these and, like a Galadriel of the prairies, grant a sign of her favour.

The mysterious elven queen, doing a passable imitation of Lady Galadriel complete with palantir.  Or maybe she's at the bowling alley, who knows?

Shamaness / druidess / hippy chick.  Definitely my favourite figure of the lot.  She will be useful as a magic user in Dragon Rampant.  Fun fact: her cape is painted using Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform, which makes a very satisfying elven cloak, I think.

Captain of archers and mistress of rangers:

Captain of swords and leader of the chaotic, scantily dressed unit I call "Galadriel's Grrrls":







The girls like to take heads.  I don't think their new boss will mind, somehow.


Finally there is this barbarian warrior with the big ... axe on the left.   I was ordering some Reaper figures recently and couldn't resist adding this Reaper Bones figure to the cart, as I thought that Kevin the Barbarian could use a ladyfriend.   Don't they look happy? They look like they have stepped out of the pages of Cerebus the Aardvaark.  (They struck sparks on Tinder, and used that fire to burn a village).

I feel like I should personally apologize to Annie the Dice Bag Lady, champion of realistic female miniatures, for having painted blondie here and her chainmail monokini.

So that completes my entries for this year's AHPC, other than my curtgeld figure to be unveiled this weekend.   Thank you Curt and the minions for organizing and doing this.   I am pleased that I exceeded my modest goal for this year.  When I choose 500 points, it was at a rather dark time when my wife had undergone two emergency surgeries for cancer and I didn't think she would make it to spring.   The Challenge gave me something to focus on and was good for my mental health.  Kay is doing remarkably well now, things are under control, and the fact that I could exceed my goal is a reflection of how well things have gone.

Blessings all.

Mike the Mad Padre

Padre, these are some very nice models. I really like your pallet choice on the elfish ladies as well. The wizardess/shaman bears a striking resemblance to Daenerys Targaryen of the show Game of Thrones. I imagine that may aid her performance on the table as Daenerys is a briliant tactician both on the battlefield and in the political realm. She is my favorite of the bunch. I quite like the Heresy style and as my older girls have elvish forces, I may have to seek out some heresy models for them to add to their forces.

The barbarian girl is a little "cheeky"! I'm sure you will be forgien as she is painted very well. She does seem to be a fitting companion to Kevin too!

I have enjoyed very much being your minion for this outing and you were amoung the few  fellows on the list that I knew beforehand! I am very glad that you came along and even more glad to know your wife is doing better. You were missed in the last outting, so I was very pleased to see you in the list for this one. I have really liked your LotR entries and the proxy models that you have sourced as I've still a ways to go in completeing my own LotR forces and proxies may fill some bit of that list. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with, but I'm sure that Mrs Padre will soon have you busy with 1:1 gardening projects!



From Michael P: Riders of Rohan (80 points)

To show faithful Thursday minion Dave some final love, here are seven plastic Games Workshop Riders of Rohan, led by Eomer, as one of my final two Thursday entries.

When GW launched its LOTR line around 2006, my teenage son and I gamed with these models quite a bit, but they were very hastily painted and over half of them were still mostly in their white primer, and then gathered dust for almost a decade as my son lost interest. Since my LOTR gaming has picked up again, I decided to use this Challenge to give them a 100% new paint and basing job.

Horse archers.  Mmmmm..  In Dragon Rampant these are my favourite troops: Heavy Riders with Bows.  Very useful.

Forth, Eorlingas!  All of these are plastic except for Eomer.  The LOTR line of figures is mostly still for sale and you can find them if you dig around on the GW website.  However, all the personality figures like Eomer are now resin, and sometimes not that well cast, though the pricing hasn't come down, strangely enough.  While I would like some more mounted Rohirrim, I think I will source them elsewhere.  The Footsore Miniatures line of Goth cavalry would do nicely, I think.

These eight 28mm mounted figures should net me 80 points.

The only thing I like almost as much as Star Wars is LotR! These are exceedingly well done, Padre! I really like Eomer and it makes me glad(somewhat) that i can still get  him from GW as the Ebay prices do get quite hefty! It is a shame that GW didn't reduce the price a smidge, but I know I can raise the dosh for models I like... like Lurtz!  I quite like the basing on these fellows and and the spot colors on the shields and horse tack. Now you need to  ride some Urks down! ;)