From GregB - Sons of Horus Tactical Squad #2 (100 Points)

With their trusty Sergeant in the lead, another squad of Sons of Horus marines prepares to Make the Imperium Great Again...

Nice to be back posting in AHPC XIII! I had to miss a couple of weeks due to travel commitments, but the brushes were still sawing away, and I have some more things to share with you all today now that I can catch up. The first submission is a second 20-man Space Marine tactical squad for GW's "Horus Heresy" setting, another set of fine fellows are painted in the colours and livery of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. These are all multi-part plastic figures from GW. 

A good officer always has some scrolls handy, for, you know, Age of Darkness reasons...

Are there ever enough Space Marines? What a stupid question! Of course not. As I have raved previously, I love GW's newest range of plastic figures for the Horus Heresy setting. Space Marines wearing Mark VI power armour (with the famous 'beakie' helmets) and trudging into a grinding, no-quarter battle is what "makes" the setting for me, and I quite love it obviously. 

The comms trooper adds almost no value, and is a real pain in the ass to assemble...but since I have one for the first squad, I need one for the second squad...

Close up shot of some of the marching poses.

As with the first squad I painted earlier during this edition of the Challenge, this band of merry fellows is equipped with their trusty bolt guns and chain-bayonets because these sorts of things come in handy when you are utterly crushing all of the blind fools and morons who refuse to recognize the glorious destiny the Warmaster has in mind for humanity hard at work creating "green jobs" and affordable housing for oppressed groups across the galaxy.

Have to have a skull in your communications array - I mean, it just makes things work better, right?

These huge 20-man squads are great fun on the table, so having two of them on hand will be even better! Can't wait to deploy them on a table where they can carry on their mission of, er, "improved intergalactic governance". 

Horus for hope! Chainblades for...um...change...yes, that should do...

For scoring purposes, we have 20 figures at 28mm size, so that should be good for 100 points, bringing my points target a little closer, which is no bad thing, as we are approaching the final stretch of this edition of the Challenge! We also pick up TWO more skullz! That's all for this bunch, but stay tuned for more posts later today...

Good to see you back at the Heresy again. As always your beakies look the business and with that many of them hopefully some of them will be able to make contact with the enemy and properly educate them on their unconscious bias against warp based entities.

The Saturday Serenity

Greetings fellow challengers,

    As we rapidly approach the end of the challenge, I am sure that most of you are frantically painting models and applying flock like there is no tomorrow. By the looks of it, the Saturday crew certainly are. So, take this opportunity to pause, relax and enjoy looking at calming pictures of models and minis.

    To help ease your stress and clear your mind we have:

The grand guru GregB and his numerous sons will help you find peace under a new, fairer form of tyranny.

Our challenge counsellor ChrisW is taking it easy this week, with a naval excursion and a spot of prayer.

Saturday's meditation mentor Millsy hopes to show you the joys of being part of a community where everyone is equal.

The sage DaveV has a message that just because something is old or retro, it can still bring joy to your life.

That master of the mind, MartijnN wants you to avoid tilting at windmills and has a cautionary tale about just that.

Finally, RayR, the leading light and spiritual leader of the challenge is here to encourage you to focus on the smaller things in life.

From MilesR: Teeny Tiny German Armored Corps (289 Points)

I may have gotten into 3mm WW2 gaming in a bigger way than just doing the Pacific Theater.  In my defense, the shopping cart at Pico Armor is very persuasive and led me down the primrose path of getting a bunch of Germans and maybe some Russians too.

First up is a 1941/42 German infantry division. 

The divisional assets include an artillery regiment which can be equipped with either artillery or nebelwerfers, a pioneer battalion and a recon Battalion with Panzer II's.

Next are 3 Infnatry regiments - here's the first regiment.  Each regiment has 3 battalions.

Regiments 2 and 3.  All of the Regiments are missing there infantry gun battery (1 each) but the good folks at Pico were more than happy to send those along and they should arrive any day now.

Just for fun, I added a Fallschirmjaeger regiment.

And some Stugs.  I have some earlier model Stug IIIB (short barrels) and will get those painted up in a week or so.

Gotta have Stugs.

Next up is a 1941/2 Panzer Division, which will be modeled after the 11th Panzer or "Ghost Division"

Up first is 1 of 2 mechanized infantry brigades (each of which has 2 battalions).  The one upfront still needs it's transport which will be Opel trucks.

Next is a Panzer jaeger Battalion equipped with Marders, a Recon battalion which a mix of Kradschutzen (motorcycles) and armored cars.  Finally to the right are some towed AT and a 3 battalion artillery regiment

The heart of nay panzer division is it's armored regiment which has 2 battalions of Panzer III's and one of Panzer IV's

Lastly the third regiment of the division - a fully mechanized infantry regiment, plus some 88's just for fun.

In the back are some optional Panzers - 5 companies of Panzer IVH's, 3 companies of Tiger I, 3 companies of Panzer ivD (short barrels) and a 3 Panther companies

A last look at 11th Panzer.  I'm going to be running a East front themed campaign at the club so you may see a handful of similarly scale Russians

As for Points here's my rough estimate

51 Infantry bases / 7 figs each / 0.25 per figure = 89.25

17 Heavy Weapons bases /4 figs each / 0.25 per fig = 17.0

9 HQ's w/ 2 vehicles each / 1 point per Vehicle = 18

18 artillery/gun batteries and lets go with 0.5 points each = 9 points

156 Tanks / Halftracks / trucks at 1 point each = 156

Total Points = 289.25, lets round that to a neat 275 points

Friday Minion: Aha, more teeny tiny tanks! Always pleased to see some of my favourites, stugs and panzer IIs, and it actually makes sense to have nebelwerfers on the table at this scale. Lovely stuff. 

I see no reason to round these down, have the full complement of 189 points (all well earned, and nothing to do with my lackadasical spreadsheet wrangling)

From MilesR: Peleliu odds and ends (126 points)

 Some odds-n-ends for the Peleliu project.  The bulk of the stuff I need to run the campaign is complete and now I'm working on ancillary detail items.  The only outstanding items after this post will be the remaining portion of the US bombard fleet (2 other Battleships and 8 cruisers).

All of the miniatures in today's submission are from the fine folks at Pico Armor.

Lets take a look at the US air assets - there are 8 Wildcat Fighters and 8 F4U Corsairs.  I'm testing different ways to base the aircraft brass wire glued into a hole drilled into the plane or 1/8 inch plastic rod with a tiny magnet glued on the end of the rod and then a magnet of the plane

I like the wire look a lot better but they are a bit unstable.  Still the dive bombing look is pretty cool.  Putting on all of these tiny decals was a bit of an ordeal.  Each one had to but cut individually and then tossed in some water.

I did learn that when working with the decals, it's best to only cut out the ones you need for each plane.  Earlier, I had gone with the production line method of cutting out ALL of the stars and then dropping them in the water as I applied them.  Then I sneezed.  Not gonna do that again!

8 wildcats for Air Superiority work

US combat assets - 3 75mm pack howitzer batteries and 3 companies of 75mm packs howitzers mounted on M3 halftracks.  Each marine regiment had one company of the M3 mounted howitzers which provided very effective fire against Japanese bunkers.

There were 3 companies of LVT's mounting turrets that were used as direct Fire Support.  2 of the companies were equipped LVT A1's which had a M3 Stuart turret mounted on and were completed earlier in the challenge.  There was also a company of LVT A4's which mounted a short barrel 75mm howitzer (it was a M8 Scott gun motor carriage turret).  There was a 4th company of LVT A1's but they were converted into makeshift Flame Throwing tanks and will be one of the most important assets the US players have to bring to bear.

7 Bases of DUKW amphibious trucks and 15 of LVT's. For the game the US players will have a total of 18 LVT bases and 5 DUKWS.  Once they've completed their initial task of landing troops they shift over to supply trucks.  Because of the reefs surrounding Peleliu, the US could get it's transport ships and even landing craft close to the beach to unload and had to ferry everything on LVT's and ducks.  Losses of these vehicles was very high and posed severe supply problems for the US.

Some Japanese aircraft - 3 Val dive Bombers and 8 zero fighters.  Historically, the Japanese had no air support but it was a constant threat so there will be a small chance some of these planes show up.  

I just painted the Japanese insignia and will likely go back and use decals.  I just need a break from super tiny decals for a bit.

Japanese defensive position - 18 caves/machine bunkers, 9 block houses and 3 120mm gun pits plus one HQ bunker in the back

I did pick up some traditional landing craft (Higgins boats and LST's).  I'll likely use them to mark landing zones and such.

As for points. there are:

6 guns at 0.5/each = 3pts

96 vehicles at 1/each = 96 pts

27 airplanes at 1/each = 27

The defensive positions are really terrain so lets just throw them in for free = 0 points

That group totals 126 points.

Lets get back to building and painting ships or is there something else.....

Friday minion: Aha, so glad we see this project almost to completion before Challenge end. I do admire your relentless grind to the objective without distraction, comprehensive approach to a meticulously researched topic and the wow factor you deliver through the project as a whole. My favourite of the bunch here are the US air support, the decals look like they were worth the effort and setbacks.

From TamsinP: An 'Oblin Hobg [1980s] (25 points)

 

This week, I continue my tour of the studios, skipping down the street from Superheroes to the 1980s. For this studio, I've dug out another old 1980s Citadel figure, this time a Hobgoblin.

Some of the details on this one weren't easy to pick out until some paint and a wash was on. Usually the wrong ones, which meant having to repaint them.

That's it on the submissions for this week. However, I thought I'd post a quick update on my Director's Chair task.

That's the partitions, bulkheads, removable floors and detail inserts finished, plus the aft cap piece of the hull. Over the next few days I'll be working on the exterior and interior of the main hull. Once that's done I'll need to do some decals for it..

For Scoring

1 x 25mm foot @ 5 = 5 points

1 x studio @ 20 = 20 points

Total = 25 points

Friday Minion: Hi again Tamsin, happy friday. Nice work on your venerable Citadel hobgoblin, it looks suitable downcast and grubby. Are you on track to get the giant space-carrot done by challenge end?

Friday Minion's Spring is Starting to Spring

It's March, and around me, spring is starting to spring. And what's more of a spring movie than....

Yes folks, I just dropped Bambi into your blogrolls, sorrynotsorry

And asthe daffs starting to emerge and temperatures inch up from the very mild winter we've had here, it also means the final weeks of  Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIII are upon us. May your brushes be swift as we grind inevitably towards to the finish line. 

This week, our Friday stalwarts are back:

• Tamsin with a vintage Hobgoblin, to tide us over while she works on her root vegetable spaceship for Turnip28. 
• Miles with a mixed bag to round out his Peleliu project, and falling deeper into the pico armour rabbit hole 
• I expect David will make an appearance with a few hundred GW minis later in the day

Happy friday, folks!

From AndrewB: Death Ride of the Spanish Armada!(60pts)

You’ve all been seeing my 1/600 pre dreadnaughts, and this week we have the Spanish contribution!  The only paint schemes I could find seemed to vary quite a bit, and this is where I settled, with the turrets, guns, and masts a weird sort of dirty Bart-Simpson complexion   Overall, they are distinctive from a few yards off, and that’s the look I need. 

First, and my personal favorite, Armored Cruiser Emperador Carlos V!   This thing is huge, bristling with guns, and has the Spanish clamshell turrets we all love!

Next, the pre-dreadnaught Pelayo!  Have to love a good tumblehome, right?   I know I can’t get enough.   This model was shipped to me short the wing turrets, which are on the way with my next order, but I got excited and painted up the ship without them!

Another Cruiser!   Reina Regente class ship Lepanto! Lots of guns on this beauty. 

Lastly, this little fella Cristobal Colon!  I’ve chosen to add primary armament turrets, as this whole ship should have been sunk at Santiago de Cuba anyhow.  Looks cool this way, too. 

And group pictures!   These folks will be used in a great big game simulating a ‘what if’ scenario where Camara takes his fleet west instead of east into the Med.  once off the coast of the US, they’ll be running afoul of the American squadron posted earlier in the challenge. 

As always, I enjoy seeing your progress and hearing your feedback.  Thanks to Teemu, the greatest of all AHPC minions, for being understanding with my submissions at all hours and on random days.  

How do I commune with the snow

Lord with regards to those Director’s Chair?

From TeemuL: Not one, not two, but many nice boats this time from Andrew! Excellent ships. Regarding the Director's Chair, please contact Curt via wonders of email.

From Codsticker: Variags of Khand Horsemen (70pts)

I almost had these done for last week but  just a few details and basing had to be finalised before they were ready for posting. 7 mounted Variags of Khand.

Not a ton of variety here just two poses. One with an axe... 

...and one with a bow.

GW have just released a Warband of 7 models, one of which is a Chieftain that is only available in the warband box. I may grab a box just to get the chieftain. In the meantime there are 6 more in the queue but they probably won't get done for this challenge as I am moving back to the early medieval period for my next couple of entries.

That is 7 mounted 28 mm models, for 70 points.

From TeemuL: Very nice, I like how the red contrasts with black, but is not too bright. Very nice and neat painting and the bases meld nicely to your board. Quite limited poses from GW, some of their sprues have much a variation, some seem to have less.