From JezT: A Very British Civil War (85 Points)

Dear All,

Really happy to be able to post up these 25mm scale figures and vehicles so I am now all ready to start using Bolt Action rules to play games set in the mythical 1930’s campaign of "A Very British Civil War". This project was started last challenge and I am acting as the “establishment” with armed police and “Territorials” as my squads.

This photo gives an overview of the post.

First up is a nice machine gun squad. I think these are old Renegade WWI figures that I got second hand. They are great to paint and  it’s a shame no longer being made? Next up are two odd infantry figures that I did not do last year, posed against the Command car vehicle from 1^st Corps.

Next is some serious firepower! This is a Lanchester armoured car model from Warlord Games – this is historically from 1929 and was used in early WW2. I just painted this the same basic brown colour as the army uniforms. This has one heavy and two medium machine guns. I bought the model before I really understood the Bolt Action rules so had to accept that this is the equivalent of putting a King Tiger down in AVBCW terms! I did not want to start an arms race with my opponent so downgraded the model by removing the turret and adding an open top version. 

Finally I have a lorry, this one from 1st Corps.

Points wise that is 3 x vehicles, plus 5 x figures = 60 plus 25 = 85 points. Now to get round to playing the first game ....

Cheers Jez

***

Disarming to help your opponent? That is mighty sporting of you :) Personally, our group enjoys a good "arms race" among the rival collections - its the sort of thinking that helps fill our basements with stuff! But it makes sense to avoid models which can be a touch too dominant on the table, particularly as you set out for your first game. I'm sure the arms race can begin after that first game gets completed...

Some fine work here Jez, covering an assortment of minis and models for a very unique setting. That will be 85 points for you!

GregB

PeteF Makes it Atop Snow Lord's Peak

Reaching the summit, Pete unbuckles his crampons, sits down and stretches his legs.

Today's Snow Lord's Peak brought to you by Mount Logan, Yukon Territory.

'Bit of a slog, eh?' the Snow Lord amiably sits down next to Pete.

Pete massages his toes, nods and looks over to the huge, blue-skinned creature, 'Yeah, that was a hike to be sure. Why do you insist on living up here? It's so isolated.'

'I quite like it actually. Low taxes, fresh air, brilliant internet, and it allows me to see way ahead and waaay behind.   

Unconvinced, Pete merely nods politely, blowing into his hands to keep them warm. 'Sure. Sooo, what would you like me to do so I can get off this frozen peak?'

The Snow Lord thinks for a moment and says, 'You know, I like the project you've been working on to complete your late dad and brother's vision to stage Waterloo using old school Minifigs. How about you do up an interesting unit using those great old minis. Once you complete that task then I'll award you your prize.'

__________________________________________________

There you go, Pete. We all look forward to seeing some of that old lead you've been acquiring get it's due attention under your brush.

-Curt

From MikeF - 30k Militia Brute Squad (42 Points)

Continuing with my Imperial Militia army for Warhammer 30k (and more red paint apparently) is the Militia Brute Squad. These are equipped with boarding shields and Ogryn clubs for bashing noggins. Given the size of them, they probably only have to bash it once!

They're the close combat offering for the army, but with their boarding shields they can also act as a layer of ablative armor for the non-abhuman members of the army. My commander is very"woke" however, so he probably won't have them march out in front...probably. These models area about 40mm so I figure 42 points.

***
Holy cow, seldom has a figure's name and appearance matched up so well - "brutes" indeed! I had no idea these were an option for Imperial Militias in the 30k game - it will add a unique aspect to our game, that's for sure. I love the oversize shields, the clubs...it all speaks to "keeping order". Given the size and apparent temperment, I think I might have the World Eaters try and engage these particular fellows...

That's 42 points for you Mike! Need a top up on red paint yet?

GregB

From Barks: Chaos Command (12 Points)

More Pinkstone Fortress!

I tried to feel the love for these two, but couldn't fully muster it. I don't like the idea of a Commissar fallen to Chaos, who does the same thing only more evil. I'm not happy with the flag, it isn't good enough. I do like his stubble and facial scars, though! The Ogryn is cool with the icon impaling him utterly.

1x 28mm = 5
1x 40mm = 7

Skull-o-meter™: 3
Cumulative Skullz: 12

***
Always fun to see more work from your Barks. For myself, I'm not a huge fan of the "Chaos look" in the current 40k universe - and I agree with you on the Commissar - but certainly the brushwork here looks great, and it's fun to enjoy your latest installment of "Pinkstone Fortress".  The Painting Challenge often includes many particpants' own special projects, and this is one of the fun ones to follow. 

I'm also an OSL skeptic, but I have to say, you nailed it on the big brute's sword/pole/bashing-people-bar-thing. One of the many small but excellent painting bits you have executed so nicely on these figures.  Great work. 

GregB

From RobertH: Frostgrave - Do not ask for whom the wolf culls, it culls for thee (20 points)

Pomponia turned the corner, two skellies at arms at her back, the necromancer and his apprentice hot on their heels. To her left, an intact building, rare in the Frozen City. To her right, the far more common ruin.Blocking the street ahead, a pack of canines.

Packs of wild dogs are a common sight in Felstad. Generally, these animals are scrawny, chronically malnourished, and often diseased members of the species. Unfortunately, this often makes them aggressive.

Wolves, on the other hand, are a rarer sight, and tend to shy away from humans. One or two, however, will occasionally range into the Frozen City in search of prey.

While the wolves may well prefer to ignore or flee from humans, how might they feel about piles of magically animated bones? Threats to shy away from, or a tasty snack to crack open and marrow to savor?

My first entry for Challenge X, just short of the cull deadline, are four 25/28mm wolves. This is a pack (pun intended) from Warbases animal line:

I mounted all four on some 25mm diameter plastic cobblestone bases from Renedra, to match the rest of my Frostgrave figures. Painting was relatively simple; primed black, then painted Vallejo Neutral Grey, drybrushed Apple Barrell Quaker Gray, and then washed with ArmyPainter Soft Tone. Muzzles and eyes got a quick dab of black.

I spackled around the metal base to blend it in with the cobblestones, which I then painted white and glued snow to them. I'm not happy with the stark white under the snow; the grays give the snow a blue tone, while the white shows where the glue didn't take. Life and learn.

So that's twenty points in the books. Not bad for a few hours work. I started about 1300 Pacific today, and they bulk of the work was done by 1600. I was also working on a few other entries, so should have one or two more to post this week.

And I survived the cull by a whole fifteen minutes.

----
By Paul
A slim margin perhaps but safe is safe regardless! 
Still, any further delays and you would have had to Pack it in...

From Iannick: A Fashionably Late First Entry (65 Points)

It is with barely two days left to the deadline that I finally submit my first entry to this year's challenge! I made the cut!

Obviously, it has to be a Curtgeld, since I do not intend to leave this island so early! With the choice of figure completely up to me, I went looking into my rather large unpainted stash, and picked something I knew I would enjoy painting. A few years back (Challenge 7 I think. How time flies) some of you may remember I went on a Halfling painting spree. It so happens I still have quite a few of the unpainted little fellows, what with me pledging for the whole range during the Kickstarter!

I'm a big fan of playing Halflings in D&D and Warhammer, probably because my favourite RPG character of all time, "Cedwick Bloomberry", was a halfling Fieldwarden. Never was a character so lucky, it was uncanny, and he became the stuff of legends amongst my RPG group. People always underestimated the little fellow, always...

Anyways, the Stonehaven Halflings are just a lovely range, and every figure is full of personality. I picked the "Mage apprentice" as my Curtgeld, in part because I have two of them (packaging mistake), but also because it's one of my favourite of the range. I believe the figures work especially well for RPGs, and this one should be of use to a DM looking to represent a first level halfling mage character, or NPC. Hopefully it can find a place in the collection of such a player (hint, hint).

I usually go with browns and earthy tones for halflings, but since this guy is a young mage, I gave him a blue wardrobe, it seemed fitting. I had as much fun painting him as I did 3 years ago, the little guys just paint themselves it seems. 

Next up we have Alice Duskbane, Paladin of Cormyr. The last few years I've been involved in a sort of personal RPG renaissance, after a decade long hiatus, and introduced three of my close friends to the hobby, and we've been playing twice-monthly ever since. Truthfully, I never thought they would all love it as much as they do! So I've been painting their characters, and this is the paladin of Marie-Claude in our D&D 5e forgotten realms campaign. 

The figure is from Dark Sword, probably my favourite fantasy figures manufacturer, and was picked by MC, and then painted by me, based on her character's description. It was a somewhat difficult figure to paint, first because painting pristine white is never that fun, but also because the figure is very slender and "petite". I also rarely paint redheads if I can avoid it, it never looks quite right. I'm quite happy with her nonetheless, and so is MC, which is the most important.

This lovely gal is also my ticket to Mudry's Mesa, as I will finally start my exploration of Challenge Island on Sarah's balloon. Sadly, I will have to make my maiden voyage sober, since I'm all out of bubbles (an ironic twist of fate considering it is one of my favourite drinks). But considering my RPG group is made-up of all women, I have plenty of unpainted female figures, and I do intend on using that mode of transportation more than once! Plus any excuse to drink bubbles...

So...

Curtgeld and 28mm figure : 30 pts

First trip on Sarah's balloon and 28mm figure : 35 pts

So 65 pts to erase the shameful "0" next to my name!

See you soon on the Mesa.

***

Bienvenue a noveau, Iannick! It's great to have you back among the Challenge and to share not only your fine brushwork, but your energy and passion for the hobby.  I do recall the earlier halfling painting spree, and I know many other Challengers and visitors will too. Your aspiring mage is just the ticket to honour that tradition, a fine Curtgeld for a lucky participant. 

The Paladin is really something, excellent work.  I have a feeling many fantasy and D&D fans will be looking Dark Sword miniatures if they haven't already...

That's 65 points for you, sir, and we look forward to more!

GregB

Formatting Your Posts - A Celebrity Reminder From Your Friend Horus Lupercal, The Warmaster

Did you check your post over before marking it "ready"? No? That's what happens when you believe in an "Emperor"...

Posting to Blogger is not always the easiest thing - the software can be bonky, the text editing and other functions can be opaque, inconsistent and even baffling at times, often for reasons that are not apparent.  Likely Blogger was created by some brain-sick software engineer who was also blind to the true glory of the Dark Mechanicum...one of many things that will need sorting out after I finish my conquest of Terra.

Plus, you are all busy folks, right? Busy painting, hopefully, but often just busy with life and other things. Perhaps you are trying to liberate the galaxy from the tyranny of a so-called "Emperor" - whatever the reason, life can get in the way - well unless you're Ferrus Manus - "life" isn't a problem for him anymore. But the point is that your Warmaster understands. You have painted your lovely figures and models, you just want to get the posting process over with so you can move on!

But that said, there are a few simple steps that the dim Minions who assist with all of this would like to remind you of when it comes to drafting your posts.  Normally I ignore the Minions - I pass their calls along to Fulgrim, so he can have people to talk to and feel less insecure.  But in this case, the information is important enough that I have taken time out of my busy schedule of ruthless galactic conquest charity work to remind all Participants in this fine Ppainting Challenge of the following rules with regard to formatting posts:

- Please take a moment to read them over before marking them "ready".  Yes, we all make mistakes (I speak from experience - obviously not my own, because I am the perfect Warmaster - but the Minions processed this for me, so there is surely a typo in this very post!) but while we are happy to make small corrections, we cannot re-write the submissions for you...
- Please make sure the photos are not too large. See Tamsin's earlier guidance on this here.
- Please use the labels for your post - your name, any other relevant points, like the Challenge Island location, the figure size/scale, manufacturer etc. 

That's that. Did I mention that it is a good idea to take a moment to read the post over before marking it "ready"? Please take a moment to read your post over before marking it "ready".

Posts which are not able to meet basic standards will be subjected to the "Istvaan Treatment" returned to "draft" state.

That is all - many thanks on behalf of your humble Minions (who make mistakes too, but they get to blame them on Miles' spreadsheet).

Horus Lupercal, on behalf of your Minions.

From AlexandroL: Curtgeld - Sdkfz 222 in 28mm (45 points)

"Empezar la casa por el Tejado" is a well known spanish saying, means Start from the final.

My first steps into Challenger island is pay fee for Snow lord's Peak.

I've chosen iconic Sdkfz.222 because It's my favorite Recon Vehicle in World War II.  I think almost all of us have a German Army and never have enough 222. 

This is a great model from Blitkzreig Miniatures, but it does have a a serious problem. The resin is too oily and it's not easy to paint, although you washed it previously.

Difference Resin Between Warlord games and Blitzreig Miniatures.

Detail of gross, oily resin.

My solution was a basecoat of Tamiya putty with acetone as thinner.  It's more a wash than a basecoat. Acetone clean resin and disolve putty, and mostly improve the surface.

All stowage are from Black Dog Models. (1/48 Range) ,  I love this resin model. Fine sculpt, lots of details.

With this Model I should earn 45 Points. 20 Points for 28mm vehicle + 25 Point for Curtgeld bonus.

my following steps into island will be a Sander's Sand Dunes (with some Roman Archers with red dress), I`ll continue inside of the path of history.


***
Hi Alexandros, very nice work here.  Many of us can relate to problems with resin. Myself, I hate resin models, often encountering the very issues you describe (I believe Ken has been battling this as well).  It seems, based on this edition of the Challenge at any rate, that the models from Blitzkrieg seem to suffer in particular from this (I have avoided ordering from them specifically because of the issues so many people seem to encounter). The economics of the hobby are such that we always have, and always will, see resin models out there.

And whatever the issues, one can't argue with the results seen here! Excellent brush work has created a fine-looking model, well done Alexandros. Did you have a specific recipient for this prize in mind? Best to advise before the Snow Lord decides for himself...

GregB

From RossM: 28mm Red Pirate - Curtgeld (60 Points)

Second entry for this year's challenge and this time it is also a part of Challenge Island. 

Starting by landing at Sander's Sand Dune, this lonely pirate is seeing red all around him. Napoleonics, Romans and many more all in shades of red.

A Wargames Foundry Oriental pirate that was a part of a small band of rogues in the painting lists.

The red is a new addition to the paint pot coming from Citadel's range of paints. Base, wash and layer giving a red with impact and depth. The colours, god only knows they have such strange names.

This figure is also being offered as the Curtgeld and a prize for those who have journeyed to the Challenge Island.

Thanks for looking and in terms of points this bring in

5 for 1 x 28mm
25 for Curtgeld
30 for Challenge Island prize.

Totaling either 30 for Curtgeld or 60 for Curtgeld and prize.

Cheers for now.

***

Pirate? Why, he is merely an innocent fisherman, no? Sporting red finery and...a polearm. Well, safety first, right? I mean, with so many OTHER pirate types around - not to mention an army of red entries along these specific sand dunes, a polearm is only logical, right?

Very nice Ross.  You have some great results here. I use the GW paint line for 98% of my painting, and I share your exasperation at the stupid names of their paints, but they are good paints, easy to acquire, and give great results - just see the output above. 

As a minion, I find your math complex. So it's probably correct. If not, Miles will launch me directly into the Sun. But that's a problem for another day. 60 points for you!

GregB

From SebastianR: Vermillion, Pathfinder Character (35 Points)

"Look mate, 'e's go' a floppy 'at, what else do y'need?" Geezer sniffed and wiped his nose.

He flicked an uncertain look at me. The guardian of the sandhill looked, likewise, uncertain.

I cradled the foot long idol in my arms as the awkward silence spooled out.

The tribute demanded by the guardian had taken a while to recover. The first one had snapped off at the legs. A second had also snapped at the legs, but this time it had been a clumsy acquaintance rather than myself.

The guardian licked his lips and coughed. "The donnybrook theme was very clear."

"e's a fantasy bird form a fantasy land ma'. With the elves an' goblins an' all tha' nerdy stuff. Look I'm no' 'ere to judge. Maybe he was figh'in' one of them wars bu' wif gandalf or summat."

"It could at least have a badger" muttered the guardian, clearly in retreat.

"e's go' a rat. It's basically a tiny badger."

We shook on it and I handed over the idol, paid geezer his fee and began my climb towards the top of the Sandhill.

***

So this is Vermillion, my other Pathfinder character, this time for Pathfinder Society. He's a Tengu Archaeologist (the horrible misnaming of what is effectively an arcane rogue) and was also procured in return for beer cider. The comments about it breaking aren't a joke. The first print, I managed to break while block colouring. The second was crushed by a fellow player. Those legs are... not robust.

The spell effect in his left hand is my best impression of the shiny spell effects I see on various fantasy models. I think it's passable.

In other news, I got a marco lens. For my my phone. It cost like 10 quid off eBay and the effects are... interesting.

I basically got it in lieu of putting together a proper photography set up, which I don't really have space for.

Pros, I dont need to crop the photos afterwards.

Cons, not significantly better than cropping photos after the fact, closer photos means higher res means my mistakes are bigger, probably made by child-slave-labour.
 

So that's 35pts methinks; 30 for the challenge and 5 for the mini.

***
Hi Sebastian - wow, a lot going on with one figure! I enjoyed the story, but breaking three times...yikes! On the plus side, the brushwork here is very, very sharp on a very cool looking figure.  The spell effect is pretty neat in particular, and works wells with a character working along something as cool-sounding as the "Pathfinder Society".  I've enjoyed looking this up online, and it will help me delay doing work for at least another couple of hours :)

And your new lens helps us appreciate your work. I sympathize when it comes to those who find taking photos frustrating - the lighting is almost always a hassle. But the notion of a macro lens for the iPhone is pretty cool, something I should look into. As long as it's only "probably" made by slave labour...

35 points for you, well done. 

GregB

From RobH: Six Assorted Fantasy Foot Figures and Curtgeld - (55 Points)

My First entry into this winter's painting challenge is ready. The first three weeks of the challenge was spend mostly in bed due to a nasty cold and flu combination. A great way to spend the Christmas holidays. Otherwise a belated Happy New Year to all.

1) One Leprechaun and a pot of gold. My Curtgeld for this year. There are so many miniatures in my pile of lead, that I have lost track of where they came from. The source of this figure is a mystery to me.

2) Two mushroom men. More mystery figures. My thoughts are that Ming the Merciless has to harvest the spores for the Purple Death from somewhere, and they would be a fine source. Future allies of Flash Gordon.

3) Three Nazgûl on foot, in the middle of the night. They will correspond to the three mounted ring-wraiths, which  I entered in previous editions.

The sun was low on the horizon when I went to take the photos, and I found that my tablet was not charged. The images are from my iPhone, which isn't as good as my tablet for this task.

Scoring six 25mm foot figures @ 5 points each plus 25 points for my Curtgeld.

***

Hello again Rob, and welcome to Challenge Edition X.  The flu sounds like it was pretty awful, so good to see you are back at things, and that your brushes are back in action! Quite a variety here - including a mystery leprechaun! But I like the Nazgul most...so chilling and ominous, such a great part of the incredible LOTR story.

I sympathize with your challenges when it comes to getting photos done, always a bit of a pain, no matter how much they advance the cameras on our assorted iPhones etc. 

55 points for you, welcome to the fray!

GregB

From MartinC: 24th Lancers for Mudry's Mesa (94pts)

So this post is a bit of a cheat as although inspired by a fellow challenger it doesn't relate to a single post. I wargame with JamesM often and it's always a blast. He has an obsession (is obsession the right word...yes it is) with building the Highland Division in Normandy - his grandfather's old unit and tour of duty. We play his excellent WW2 games and he even plays ours - and is a less rabib anti spearchucker than Dave.

As a result of this I have loads of WW2 15mm figs - Paras, Commandos (my grandfather's unit) and Germans to be shot at. This is all his fault. A typical post for him on the challenge is https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/03/jamesm-15mm-ward-lafrance-wrecker-9.html

So my Commandos needed some tank support for Normandy and therefore we have the 24th lancers - James donated me a couple of Fireflys as part of the challenge and these are the Shermans.

Even the transfers are right - obviously a gift from James, I'm not great with decals.

So that is 8x15mm vehicles = 64 points, plus 30 points for the new location.

***

Well, Mudry's Mesa won't stand a chance with this lot rolling towards it, will they? The anti-tank status of the Mesa's defences are not know, but since there are eight tanks here, I have to expect at least one or two of them will survive and make it to the top.  

Well done Martin, I'm a big nerd for WW2 gaming, especially with tanks! These look lovely, and will make fine targets for the assortment of lethal German AT weapons and kit to be found on any Normandy-themed battle. 

Another 94 points for your impressive total. 

GregB