From AngusW: Indian Army Corps of Engineers - 45 points

Using up all the odds and sods left from a 8th Army project last year, I've managed to cobble together a 9 man section from the Indian Army Corps of Engineers.

This is uses everything I had left from boxes of Perry's and Warlord. Slightly annoyingly, I didn't quite have enough for a section of 10, so they might just have to have a British NCO.

Note the once finely crafted mine detector hidden at the back. It kept falling to pieces, the result was an increasing amount of epoxy glue applied. It's now best kept in reserve.

Next up, a Copplestone WW1 British naval landing party.

From BenitoM: EIR Auxilia Sagittarius (Western) Unit (30 points)

Hope everybody had a good Christmas Eve Eight and Christmas Day. As Spain imposed limitations to celebrate family gatherings, I took advantage of a very quiet Christmas morning to progress with my painting work. My third entry in the Challenge this year is a unit of Early Imperial Roman Auxilia archers, to reinforce my Infamy! Infamy! Roman armies. 

In the game, archers (as well as slingers and some allied tribal unist) act in skirmish order, cannot from in close order or fight in close combat. These skirmish class units are usually made of 6 models and have an embedded command or "Supra Numerum" to activate.

 

The models are 28mm metal figures from Wargames Foundry, but unlike some of my Gaul/Briton models from the late 80s, these were recently acquired (actually, I planned to be part of the 10th edition of the Challenge, but I was not able to have them in time).

 

This entry scores 30 points (6 x 28mm models @5 points each), taking my Challenge balance to 95 points. The models also score 30 points in the Roman and His Enemies duel.  

 

I'm planning now my  next step in the Challenge Island Dungeons. I have only covered one room so far, but I had an idea to move into The Pit of the Pendulum room. Stay tunned.

From MikeF - The Larder - Ghouls - 30 points

 The final chamber of Level 1 is The Larder which requires an association to food. I struggled to find an appropriate model until I took a closer look at a ghoul model from Reaper Miniatures. He appeared to be quite enjoying a fresh meal. I feel it inappropriate to assert my own moral relativism here and believe he is thoroughly enjoying a sumptuous banquet!

The best part about eating intestines is it's basically two meals in one! Yummm

The other fellow looks frustrated he can't seem to crack open that skull for the juicy treat inside.

 

 

 

These models are also an honorable mention for the Hall of "Traps".

On to level 2.

From MikeF - Offering for Sarah the Sorceress - Female Vampire Knight - 25 points

 The Chamber of Darkness was far too dark and scary, so I've painted this offering to Sarah the Sorceress in the hope that she teleports me to The Larder. The model is Nazera Bloodraven from Reaper Miniatures. Her paint scheme was inspired by the Night Lords Space Marine Legion from 30k (or 40k too I guess). I've collected an assortment of fantasy figures from both Reaper and Hasslefree, but I'm finding the Reaper models a bit easier to paint. Hasslefree models are amazing, but I find the detail is much easier to pick out on the Reaper models.

 

From StuartL - Welcome to the Chambers of Challenge Inn - 45 points

 I hope that everyone had a good Christmas. As for myself, my better half was at work all day, so I could spend my time with a brush in hand. Sure, it's not the traditional way to spend the season, but it works for me.

It also allows me to introduce the staff from the Chambers of Challenge Inn to you all as I enter the Larder chamber. The theme here was all around cooking and cuisine, which led me to paint up some NPC's for D&D.

Here we have the innkeeper's assistant and the innkeeper/ale tester himself. These figures are all from the Reaper Bones range, a great source for NPC minis who will probably see less time on the table than they did on my painting desk. 

And the bar maid with a tray full of victuals for some hungry adventurers or AHPC challengers.

And finally the kitchen staff. I like how the gnomish chef seems to be protecting the pig, rather than preparing him for the pan. Maybe he's explaining to the customers how it is time they all went vegan. 

So there we have 5 NPC's all ready for the gaming table. Given my usual group, I expect them to either murder everyone in the inn, raze the town and lay waste to the countryside, OR inexplicably decide that the whole campaign revolves around the pig and spend most of their time and resources trying to place the pig on the throne. I honestly couldn't tell you which way they'll go.

Anyway, that lot nets me 25 points for the minis, 20 points for the Larder AND is 1 Squirrel point of D&D themed minis.

My running duel totals are:

GW Points - 215

Skullz - 81

Squirrels - 1

And the way is open to Level 2 

ChrisF Hall of Traps 15mm entry (22 pts)

 I got this odd little guy from Battle Valor. I'm unsure if he is supposed to be coming out of a hole or what, but he appears to be trapped to me. Painted this with some high flow acrylics and based with a latex, glue, and baking soda mix and some desert rocks.

Working on an offering for the witch to bypass the Pit and the Pendulum room, so should have more in a day or too. Happy Holidays!

Seasons Greetings and Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas all! 

 

From DaveS - Pit of the Pendulum

 First, and most importantly, Happy Christmas to everyone.

I have now had a chance to paint the second of my models that were purchased in order to have material for the Chambers.  This is a "Nightmare" from Wizkids, and I couldn't help but think that it fit the bill for something terrifying.

The model itself came in clear plastic, and while I could have painted it up as a pitch black horse, it seemed far more fitting to do something a bit different, and therefore I have only painted the mane, tail and other hair as flames.  I think that it looks reasonable, although I have no idea how well the paint will adhere, as this isn't primed unlike most of their range.

I'm fairly happy with the result and think that it "reads" as flame.  I could try making the base of the flaming areas brighter, but I like the idea of a subdued, smokey flame that doesn't really give out light.

I think that this is another 25 points (28mm model, plus 20 for the chamber), as it would be a little rude to try and score this as cavalry.

In the background of the photos, you can see the Orcs that I am supposed to be painting for my bloodbowl team.

From MikeF - Golem's Haunt - 40k Servitor - 25 points

 For Golem's Haunt, I painted a 40k Servitor from Games Workshop. I don't know if they're alive or dead, but they've definitely been stitched together and had parts bolted on to them. This one has a massive c-clamp arm grafted to his right shoulder with an assortment of hoses and wires going in and out all over the place. I imagine all this gear causes significant back issues after a 24 hour work day. Luckily he seems to have a few containers of chemicals injecting what I can only hope are Emperor grade painkillers into him. I went for a zombie look for his skin as I imagine all those machine parts would contribute to an unhealthy pallor.

Merry Christmas!
 

From MilesR: Republican Roman Allies in 6mm (225 Points)

 

Mt second submission for Challenge XI are some Spanish & Italian allies for my Republican Roman army.  Again these are all 6mm Baccus figures.  First up are 45 Spanish Light Cavalry, mounted 5 to a base.

The second group are 6 bases of Spanish Caetratii (light troops) - just the chaps for scampering over rugged Iberian terrain while harassing those dreaded Carthaginians.

The final Spanish formation are 4 bases of Scutarii medium/heavy infantry.  

4 bases of Italian Medium Cavalry, mounted 5 to a base.

4 bases of Samnite medium Infantry, each with 24 figures.  Both the Scutarii and Samnites can double as Guals and maybe even Germans in a pinch.

15 Mounted Roman generals.  I've learned that it pays to easily indicate the chain of command for miniature games, so each base size represent a different type of rank.

Lastly, a shot of the completed Republican Roman army.  Not bad for 4 days painting.  "Completed" might be an overstatement as I do need to add a few more Triarii and likely some other bits.

Next up on the 6mm Ancients hit parade - Parthians

Points-wise, this submission has:

240 Infantry = 120 points

105 Mounted - 105 points

Total = 225 Points

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all of you - I hope you are all having a wonderful day

Orc in the night

 Stepping down the tunnel into the pitch black of the Chamber of Darkness my heart beat faster... Greyscale!? I’ve never done that before! Indeed I was slightly concerned that this task was just a way of wasting a figure that I’d never use again. However, it actually proved to be a really interesting exercise in my painting skills. I chose this Orc because I’ve got him in abundance and I already had a load spray undercoated in Matt black! Secondly he’s a bit late for my liking. I guess he’s from 4th or 5th edition WFB and the early 90’s which is when I started finding these monopose sculpts a bit dull. Actually he was a much nicer model to paint than I thought he would be, so it has enthused me to paint a few more. I’ll donate him out as my Curtgeld prize for this year.

I took the pictures on top of the wood burner. It seemed the best thing around with a matt black colour. Luckily Christmas Day has been a lovely sunny day on the South Coast of the UK today.

The technique certainly got me thinking more about light sourcing and made me wonder if I’d ever be brave enough to do a small skirmish game based at night time all in grey scale. It’s also made me consider wider dioramas with light sources like windows or flaming torches.

I’ll add this last picture just to prove I haven’t simply added a filter to a colour model! This was the Orc before I painted the base! It’s funny how the camera makes him look more blue in this picture. I guess it is adjusting for the different colours in the picture. 

So that’s the Chamber of Darkness done for now. Just 5 points for a 28mm figure, but 20 more for the challenge = 25 points.

Cheers

Mark Backhouse

From Bark B: It walks again!

For the next chamber - The Golem’s haunt it was a simple choice of a Marauder Miniature zombie from back in the day. I had lots of fun on this straightforward model playing with rust effects and weathering. The old plastic coffin shaped shield is a nice touch. Only after painting on the basic colours did I realise he was possibly meant to be bare legged? Oh well! The trousers stayed on... which is a line you won’t hear for all of my entries!😂😂🤣

So a rather easy 5 points for the 28mm figure and 20 more for the challenge =25 points

Hmmm the next room looks kind of dark! I’d best get a torch and some white and black paints out!

Cheers

Mark Backhouse

From SanderS: First Post is Away! (70 points)

 Hoi Folks!

Let's start with whishing all of you a Merry Christmas and all the Health for 2021, we surely can use it.

It's incredible that the Challenge has come round again, taking part ever since Challeng V, I couldn't stay away. Oh and if I would have tried not entering, the Lad would have coerced me into it anyway. What surprises me is the amount of post and figures that all of you have already put up here. Corona has been a big drain on my hobby time, being a teacher I need to work on anyway and online-teaching takes more preparation than regular teaching, so yeah: Corona sucks big time.

So what's up for this years Challenge? Well I have two big projects going, a friend of mine Martijn, is the owner of the FLGS and has bribed me to paint his Warlord Games Stalingrad Collectors box and that has got to be finished soon so that's my main project. The second one is the Battletech figures I had lying around and received from the recent Clan Invasion Kickstarter. There's a huge backlog of figures left prepped from last years Challenge so I will try and use them for the Chambers of Challenge. 

My first post is just 7 figures big, since I am having to do a lot of marking of tests my pupils did before we had to go in our second lockdown. These are some Warlord French Napoleonic Chasseurs a Cheval (also for Martijn by the way) and I'd like to enter them in the Napoleonics Duel Ray, but NOT for the Cavalry duel as these will probably be my only mounted unit.

7 mounted figures in 28mm should net me my first 70 points of the Challenge.

For now that's it, enjoy the Holidays and stay safe!

Sander