From PeterD: Late Roman Slingers and Cavalry in 28mm (72 points)

No library sections today, but two units for my Late Roman armies based for To The Strongest.

First up a unit of 4 light cavalry with javelins.  I've named them after the Equites Dalmatae who served under the Dux Britanniarum and were noted as being stationed at Praesidio.  It is unsure where this is exactly, but best guess is somewhere in Yarkshire, maybe between York and Doncaster.  "Dalmation" seemed to be  type of cavalry rather than a place of origin and is often interpreted as being light cavalry with javelins.  Useful for running down raiders, patrolling frontiers and harassing flanks.  Being a Limitanei unit, there's no shield pattern for this unit meaning that I get to make one up.  I've gone with a Chi Rho in white on red.   Figures are plastic Gripping Beast from their Late Roman light cavalry box set (which is very good value and very useful).

Haven't added labels and I took this pics early in the morning and didn't want to wake anyone up by running the printer at 7am on a Sunday.  Also I need to check if I already have a unit of Dalmatae.

Next we have a unit of 6 Funditores or light infantry slingers.  During a business trip to Vancouver this summer, I picked up two Victrix Late Roman plastic kits which were put away until the Challenge, and then lost when I went to assemble and prep them!  Fortunately they have since turned up.  One kit was for Late Roman archers and slingers, which I plan to use for Roman and Barbarian units.  The ratio of bow and staff sling arms to regular slinger arms was not what I'd wanted but the kits have nice bits and I'll get some useful units from it.  I like the variety of loading and shooting poses plus the various types of slings (at least for the Romans, not so much the Irish!).   And there are tons of head options.  

Again no labels.  I may assign these guys to an existing infantry unit.

Love the motion in firing figures.

Points for this week

• 4x 28mm cavalry = 40
• 6x 28mm infantry = 30
• Total = 70

I should be able to count these against the Legions and Auxiliaries side duel if I can figure out how to do that!

Ah, it pleases my Late Roman heart to see these! And very nice to see some limitanei too in stead of all these flashy, dandy,  high-and-mighty comitatenses types. We all know who really does the heavy lifting, don't we? Love the self-designed but believable shield pattern too. I'll throw in a couple of points for the hand painted shields to make it 72 points. Well done Peter!

Martijn

From GregB - ...and finish with a BIG FRIGGING TANK (30 points)

Here comes "Hope" - you had best be prepared for it...Fellblade for the XVI Legion.

For my second submission today we will remain in the same setting, but switch scale rather dramatically, moving on from very small models of light Space Marine vehicles to this one very big model of a very, very heavy piece of Space Marine armour. This is a Fellblade super-heavy tank painted (no surprise) in the colours of the XVI Legion Astartes. This is a Forge World model, and like my Contemptor Dreadnought last week, it is a re-paint project, part of my ongoing OCD-brain-monkey-management efforts to ensure important parts of kit in my collection have the same shade of green.

Motivational poster for the year 30,000. My thanks to Kevin H for making this image for me many years ago...it is always fun...

Who could be against "Hope"? Why, no reasonable being could be against such a sentiment...but sadly, it seems, the universe of the year 30,000 is full of unreasonable people, and thus "Hope" must be delivered rather directly at times. One must choose to believe in the hope represented by Horus Lupercal, because those who foolishly stand against him no hope at all...

 

Horus for hope!

"Hope" here will deliver using a variety of tools...let's see, checking over the spec sheet we have the "Turret Mounted Fellblade Accelerator Cannon" that will help ensure a level playing field in every community. There is the "Hull Mounted Demolisher Cannon" which can help any community reach net-zero goals by eliminating the emissions of residents, particularly loyalist ones. There are two "Sponson Mounted Lascannon Arrays" providing high doses of "green energy" to assorted deserving targets. There is also a "Twin Linked Heavy Bolter" on the front to ensure community safety. 

So many big guns!

You'll need whisky if this thing comes at you...

Quad laser cannons too...because quad laser cannons!

"Drive closer, I'll finish them off personally..."

And if all of those weapons are not enough, we have the tank commander brandishing his bolt pistol. Because Space Marines. Sometime "Hope" requires a personal touch, and this crew is ready to accommodate that!

 

Not exactly low emissions for this vehicle, but just as in our time, in the future it's OK to cause emissions as long as you are a "green".

This is a fairly old model, one which I could not assemble myself and only have thanks to the resin-model-building talents of occasional Challenge participant Steve B of Winnipeg.

View of the gunner, complete with targeter mounted on his helmet.

As you can surely surmise from this bonkers weapons assortment, the Fellblade lies at the very, very heavy end of the armoured vehicle selection for the Space Marine Legions. The weapon loadout is daunting and will dominate in any small game, so unless one is staging a rather large battle (on a rather large table to boot) it is best used in niche-scenarios. For example, we deployed it one time as a knocked-out objective...which unfortunately for the loyalists, still had working main weapons in the turret, as they learned to their hilarious disappointment... 

Another view of the turret.

Who has just ONE big gun, when you can have TWO?

It is great to have this re-painted now to match my preferred shade of green, as this monster has pride of place on the shelf, and the hobby-OCD-monkey will be soothed as it notes how the tank "fits" colour-wise with other pieces of the collection. 

Let's roll!!

In terms of points...well, this is a 28mm vehicle. A big frigging 28mm vehicle. But still one 28mm vehicle...so that's another 20 points, plus 2.5 points per crew member, so perhaps together they would count for five points, for a total of 25 points.

Hold out hope for Horus! Because you have no hope if you hold out!

What a tanker! Good to see ole' JD still being around in the 31st Millennium, although by that time "old" might no longer be the best word to describe it. Such a nice little detail, Greg. A smashing job on this grossly over-armed monstrosity. The Challenge Scoring System being what it is, it is what it is, even if your tank occupies half your standard 6x4 table. May it be some small solace that if  there ever was a 28mm vehicle in the Challenge, this is it.  However, methinks it  definitely qualifies for a Completely  Ridiculously Oversized Bonus of 5 points. Thus, great job and 30 points.

Martijn

From ByronM - More Rooty Goodness [50 Points]

This past week progress has been slow with painting as I have gotten a little sidetracked with finishing my new shop build to house Northern Lights Terrain.  However, I did have time to finish up two more units for my Turnip28 force, the Rabid Radishes. 

First up are a unit of Brutes, these are made up of the melee oriented malcontents of the Radishes, including one midget who has convinced one of the larger lads to carry him around while brandishing his diminutive rifle.

These models are all 3D printed, and had to be scaled down a bit or they towered over the rest of the force.  In the end they could have been a slightly bit bigger to match their name as brutes, but I didn't like the idea of them towering over everyone else.

I kept with a basic paint scheme of red and white to match their holy root vegetable of choice.

Next up is a Stump Gun and crew, made up literally from a stump...  What could go wrong when firing a cannon ball out of a wood stump??  At least they made a metal barrel to improve their inaccuracy, but I have visions of misfires and explosions dancing in my head as the back end inevitably blows off backwards taking the crew with it.  Only time will tell if my vision is accurate (but with the way this 

game is played, it probably is!!).

I again kept with a simple red based theme to the uniform, and a grimy look to the gun, as it has been well used.

Overall this should count for 8x 28mm men plus the cannon at 5 points each for a total of 45 points. Not a huge haul, but a few more units off my painting table. 

We seem to have remarkably less of a root infestation than during the last Challenge, but I am very glad that you keep holding up the flag here, Byron! Some gorgeous models and some lovely painting too. The brutes are truly great, but I really like the gun and its crew with their impressive bearskins. And nice to see them wearing red for a change! I'm sure they will be absolutely fine firing their infernal implement, wreaking havoc among the ranks. Those of the enemy, preferably. Now I admire your modesty, but the gun does count as a gun or crew served weapon, so that's 10 points. 50 points added to your tally.

From ThomasG: Green Orks and a Pretty Pink Princess (30 points)

Welcome back one and all to the tales of Tom and all things orruks, orks and uruks! Although not intending to turn my entries this year in to a gallery of the brutish denizens of the fantasy world, I can't tell you just how much fun I'm having with them; and to kick things off this week, I've returned to GREEN for my orks, and as you can see below, some more green and a dash of pink to tantalise the senses.

As the companion to Zoggrok Anvilsmasha (last weeks smashing success) this here squig (short for squiggly beast) is my moment of artistic freedom, having made it here with muted and earthy skin tones, now we can see my madness in full colourful panoply.

 

As a rule, all of my squigs end up pink, mostly as that is the most contrasting colour to green according to my colour wheel, but also because my 3 daughters think it is hilarious. My son however, he's not so sold on the matter, so instead tells me they look like bubblegum bubbles, which only serves to spur me on! 

 

The squig was initially a tricky model to decide l decipher as the large areas of skin, juxtaposed with the scales made of a harder substance, were not easy to texture right. But with a few different applications of painting styles the results speak for themselves! Pow, pretty and pink... well one of the two anyway. 

Next we come to some, as we younger sort like to say, "OG" Orks! These boyz are green, mean and like to eat beans... I guess, I'm not sure it just sounded better than lean, which they certainly are not. These 5 boyz are part of a larger squad of 20 which are taking me far too long to paint up, especially as these guys get me to the half way point in the unit that I bought this time last year! 

They are painted up to be part of the Bad Moon Klan of orks from Warhammer 40k, which is denoted by the yellow detailing, and are joining an army of pure hobby love. Back in 1999 I bought my first models in Harlow, Essex at a shop called Marquee Models, and they were then called "Space Orks". Not a lot has changed in their design since then, which only makes me love revisiting this army all the sweeter. 

Individually they have their differences, and they are by no means competition pieces, but I have such a love for these little fellas, I can't help but put in a dash more effort than I do for other troops. Please enjoy their close-ups, and think up some particularly orky names as you go through. 

There is an additional theme I have for the army; all of the braces are bright red to represent my love for 2-tone ska and they each wear a blue fancy as orks believe blue brings good luck. The bases have a bright green covered in a cracking medium to give the feeling their raw orkish WAAAGH! energy is breaking up out of the ground. 

And here we are, at the end of all things green this week. This coming Thursday (25th) is my 37th birthday, and have been lucky enough to be able to pick my presents this year, as such I've got 13 more orruks to join my growing force, represented by my first two posts, and 1 ginormous boar-like creature the size of a tank! I can't wait to share those with you all. 

     

Now, George Daws, what are the scores! 

6x28mm = 30pts

Total = 30pts

Thank you all for reading, and I'll catch you next time. 

Tom.

Waaagh! As a Tolkien purist, I am not necessarily fond of green skins, but I suppose they can be forgiven on space thingies and besides your greenskins look fabulous! That bubble gum squig is quite adorable too, though I fathom that petting it might not be the brightest idea. I look forward to the boarish one! Very well done, Tom, 30 points it is.

From SimonM: Donald Loves the Bomb by "Red Star Coven Miniatures" [Famous Person] (35 points)

This 28mm scale resin model of 'Donald Trump plummeting to a thermonuclear death' was produced by "Red Star Coven Miniatures" and could be purchased as Donald Loves the Bomb from their Masters Of War range. Sculpted by Darren Edwards, I picked up this two-piece kit of the former President of the United States just over three years ago, and am sad to report that it is now Out Of Production (OOP).

Despite coming with a plastic flying stand, this figure was always destined to be a statue of the controversial politician, so I purchased a resin plinth from an "eBay" seller to use as a pedestal, and super-glued it to a plastic 65mm circular base. The stone altar was primed using a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, shaded in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey.

I also took this opportunity to 'pick out' its metal plate with a smidgeon of "Vallejo" Gunmetal" and (another) dose of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Finally, I finished off the plinth was some strategically placed trickles of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade and Biel-Tan Green, before giving it a last, light dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey.

With the pedestal finished, I super-glued Donald to the bomb (which was much easier said than done, as the businessman didn't fit at all snuggly upon his ride), and applied two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna to the ensemble. I then layered him with "Vallejo" Bronze. washed the model with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade, before giving the Republican a dry-brush using (more) “Vallejo” Bronze.

To help weather the statue, I subsequently applied various amounts of “Citadel” Nihilakh Oxide in between the sculpt's joints and ridges. These areas were later roughly blended back in with the rest of Donald and the bomb using a (third) dry-brush of “Vallejo” Bronze. Lastly, I drilled a deep hole in my plinth and used a piece of an old broken plastic spear shaft to attach the ex-President to it.

Obviously, I thought this objective/scenic piece would make an excellent submission for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge's Famous Person Library desk, as the man seems to appear in the national news every day currently.

In addition though, I felt I might as well pigment this 53mm tall scale resin model of a Titan by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” as I used exactly the same painting scheme as Donald Trump's statue. The base miniature can be bought as SKU: MINI 94 Titan A (Reaching) from their Villains and Monsters range. However, despite the multi-piece kit containing two separate arms, I decided to 'field' the mechanical monstrosity carrying a Hammer and shield taken from the company's metal Titan Weapon Arms (SKU: DEAL 85) instead.

Two x 28mm scale foot figure = 10  Points

Famous Person Books Bonus = 20 Points

Total = 30  35 Points

 

Ah, Donald. Oh dear. Oh well. But whatever your feelings, it's a fine model and you did a fine job on him. I'll leave it to the Head Librarian to decide whether the statue deserves a place in The Library and where, but I do think you've earned your bonus! The titan looks great as well, I love the patina effect! However, as you state it is a large figure I'll score it as a 54mm figure. So 35 points for you.

Btw, love the library stamps on your map!

From GregB - Let's Start With Some Wee Little Space Tanks... (19 Points)

A small gathering of small tanks...APCs and light armour for the Sons of Horus in "Legions Imperialis".

Two posts for today. Two! They are sort of the same, but also very different! After all, painting a single setting in multiple scales is totally normal, and not at all a sign of hobby insanity, right? Right? Well, whatever. We will start small, in the physical sense, with this submission of some wee little Space Marine armour vehicles. We have a group of Rhino APCs, the all-purpose armoured troop carriers of the Space Marines, and also a squadron of Predators, light tanks of the Space Marine Legions painted in the noble colours of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. These are plastic models from GW's re-launched Epic game, "Legions Imperialis".

Why walk when you can drive?

My last submission touching on this game shared quite a bit of feedback and many thoughts about GW and how they have handled the rollout of this new-old game. I stand by all of it - although I concede the Legions Imperialis rollout looks like a Formula One race compared to the absolute dogsh*t hash they have managed to make of the launch of "Warhammer: The Old World, but I digress...

Trio of Rhino APCs.

These vehicles offer a chance to ponder some of the great positives of the new Legions Imperialis game. First and foremost, these models (assuming you were able to acquire any) are quite fantastic. I cannot say they are a joy to build - after all, the parts are, in many cases, very, very, very small, and you do NOT want to assemble these on or near any sort of carpet into which, say, the very small exhausts would surely disappear into should you drop them. But these models ARE remarkable in their lovely detail, and of how you receive a rather crazy number of options for things like pintle-mounted weapon options, and multiple weapon options for the tanks.

The 28mm unit symbols come in handy on the top hatches of the APCs.

GW can be infuriating. But GW can also do some remarkable things with figures, and these little tanks are, in my view, very much in the latter camp (although, as I said, trying to acquire them will lead you on a bewildering journey through the former). 

Anti-personnel configuration on the Predator - autocannon in the turret, and heavy bolters on the sponson.

Remarkable detail on these very small models.

I also give them full marks for the decals included with the kits. Are they very small and difficult to handle? Well, yes they are...but really, given the scale of the vehicles here, there was no other way to make them, and I would much rather have the decal sheet, and brave some frustration, than not have the little decals at all. The models also offer opportunities to use small decals from set intended for the 28mm figures, which keen GW fans will surely have spotted on the top hatches of the APCs indicating broadly the different roles of the Marines on board.

AT configuration on this one - laser cannons everywhere...and a commander with a heavy bolter for extra fun to mark this vehicle out as the squadron commander.

Each APC can carry ten Space Marines, or at this scale, two stands' worth of the little wee Space Marine figures. Here in this submission we have sufficient number of troop carriers here to mount up a basic detachment of Space Marine tactical infantry, backed by support and heavy support troops.

Love the small decals for the turret and back hatches.

The Predator is a "light" tank...and the hawkeyed among the Challenge participants will surely spot the similar chassis it shares with the troop carriers. GW's model kit for these vehicles offers different weapon choices such that the vehicles can be configured for AT work (the twin-lascannons on the turret) or heavy anti-personnel work (the single autocannon turret). Similar choices can be made for the sponson weapons.  Again, not easy to assemble, but remarkable detail, remarkable to have the choice at all. Some maniacs out there are even using tiny magnets such that the weapons can be swapped on and off...such lunacy is not for me, but that it is even being attempted is clearly a testament to how impressive these small models are. And that magnet people are bonkers. 

So for scoring, we have nine different 6mm vehicles...I think that amounts to 18 points, and a small start to the motor pool of small vehicles for the XVI Legion.

These are truly gems, Greg! The painting is top notch as always, and in the by now familiar colour scheme that suits them very well. Another great job! Yes, I can totally understand your feelings, both about GW in general and about the fiddlyness (fiddility?) of  these models. I am a great fan of small scale miniatures, but the thought of having put them together horrifies me. However, you have stood up to the challenge and they provide you with another 18 points!

 

From JonathanO: Minions (30 points)

I had this post ready on Saturday,  hoping to avoid being cut from the AHPC XIV roster.  However, as my posting day is Tuesday I am too late.  I have many figures in progress, but nothing posted yet.  

These Minions are certainly not as friendly as the AHPC Minions.  They are 28mm miniatures from Crooked Dice.  They are intended for the 7TV game.  They could also be used in many other games (Pulp Alley etc.), although they would probably arrive too late to influence the game!

6 x 28mm figures, but no points for showing up late!

At least I have recovered my painting momentum, so will continue with what is in progress on my painting table.  I will still enjoy following how you all get on in the rest of the challenge.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

Welcome, Jonathan! Well, you give a whole new meaning to the expression "a hair's breath",  but as the Head Librarian personally drags you up when you are hanging by your fingernails, who is the Junior Assistant Librarian to argue? And most welcome you are too. If these minions are anything to go on, the future looks very promising. Some very fine painting here, I really love the bright blue and the simply but very effective basing. So, some very well-deserved first 30 points for you; but you'd better promise to be a good boy from now on!

From Martijn: The Tuesday Tomes, Volume III

At the risk of tuning this into a food blog, and after last week's unfortunate canine intermission, I am going to bore you with more Dutch food.

This time it's Duivekater, a sweet brioche-like bread that is traditionally eaten at Easter. The custom originated in the Zaanstreek, which is just north of Amsterdam along the river Zaan. As a child, I grew up near The Hague on the Dutch coast, but as my mother hails from the Zaanstreek, we always had duivekater at Easter. Nowadays, mostly thanks to the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, Albert Heijn, which originates from the Zaanstreek, duivekater is sold throughout the country, but in those days it was relatively rare outside the Zaanstreek. It's an old custom though, there are even paintings by Jan Steen from the 17th century showing duivekater.

The name, which looks like a composition of the Dutch words for dove and hangover, actually seems to derive from the words for devil, duivel, and cats, katten, and is linked to the ancient custom from Roman times sacrificing cats to scare off the devil. I am happy to inform you that nowadays no cats are being sacrificed and no animals were harmed in the production of this blog.

It is also not a sacrifice to admire today's production. The Tuesday Troopers are on a roll! Apart from the very welcome and just-in-timely return of the prodigal son we have contributions from virtually the whole team:

- Jonathan debuts with "By the skin of their teeth";

- from Peter: "Country Horse riding"

- from Miles: "A Russo-Japanese Romance"

- from Gregg: "Who does not honour small things, is not worthy of the great", in two volumes

- from Simon: "Donald loves the bomb" and "Monstrous Myrka and The Robomen"

- from Thomas: "Pretty in Pink"

- from Byron: "Roots: The Sequel"

- from the Lady Sarah: "Elfio and the First Violin"

And we may have Ian chipping in too.

All today's offerings are heartily recommended!