From SanderS: 80s Pulp Officers of the Law (25 Points)

Hoi,

As the first entry for my '80s Pulp Project, I hereby present my Policemen and woman. Since I plan to play a lot of small story-driven skirmish games, I needed some cops. Some of the best available police figures must surely be the new ones from Cooked Dice, so I picked some up at the Crisis in Antwerp.

The blue uniformed policemen as well as the State Trooper on the right are metal CD miniatures. The figure on the left has a commercially unavailable head, his name is Fred, more on him later on in the Challenge...The State Trooper on the left is a Warlord Games survivor plastic figure with a CD head.

All the uniforms are a fictional combination of US police uniforms I stole off the net. My favourites must be the State Troopers, the blue accents were really fun to paint. What does bother me is that I seem to be unable to find a black-and-white or two over here. All toy cars here are based on European types...

Another small entry for this Friday's minions to put up. I am currently painting some Dark Ages figures and am toying with the idea of turning them into a small pointbomb, we'll see ;-)

Cheers Sander

Regular Challenge-watchers will know that I love me some Pulpy Goodness! And these lawmen fit the bill nicely, that blue on the uniforms really pops, and nicely ties in with the accents on the state troopers. You definitely need to get these guys some wheels though - perhaps one of out Stateside Challengers might be able to help? Where's this project going to go next? Who is the cryptic Fred?  Wow, I;m on tenterhooks, look forward to hearing more!

A neat 25 points to you.

Phil

From EricM: Pontic Pike.....Again (320 Points)

In continuation of my last challenge post the pike production continues.   I neglected to mention some vital details last go around. The figures are Wargames Foundry for the most part.  These guys have been sitting on my shelf for years and years.  I think it was partly intimidation and partly laziness that kept me from getting to them until now.  I think a combination of Simon Millers work Thebigredbatcave and the excitement of the painting challenge is what pushed me to start working on these guys.

The great thing about building a pike block, as some of you mentioned, is this will give me the core of multiple successor style armies. While Mithridates VI used pike only in the early part of his conflict with Rome, I wouldn't have felt right not building some Pontic pike.

This week I was able to finish two more blocks of pike, bringing total production to 5.   I love the look of massed pike but the repetitive nature is starting to wear on me.

To mix things up, I changed the formula a bit.   Most of my earlier pike were predominantly white.  I am pretty happy with the way this group in black worked out

 




This weeks second group in red didn't turn out as well as I would like.  The Foundry shields in many cases have a cast-on shield design.  Red design over the white shield came out a little sloppy.  But done is done.






The original plan called for a third unit this week but I was distracted by the Armor challenge and cut off painting on the last block of pike to knock out my Armor entry.

And of course the obligatory class picture.   Once I get all six done I will post the full group.   The photography part of the challenge has become a challenge in itself.   I really love the pictures you guys post of your figures.  I am still struggling to get the right level of detail, lighting and composition. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for taking a look. Check my math but 64-28mm figures at 5 points each should be 320 points.

Impressive pike phalanxes here Eric, just the right scale to get an effective look.  The red/white colour scheme really draws the eye, but I also appreciate the subtlety of the black/bronze.

On your pictures, have you tried usin a plain backdrop, so there isn't anything else to draw the eye?  Pale blue is popular, but the Snowlord uses black to good effect (perhaps wouldn't work so well for your black phalanx though!) Other than that, I'd recommend as much light as you can from multiple sources, to avoid shadow, and take lots of shots - some will come out better than others.  

320 points brings your total to 800, currently second on the scoreboard, and more than a third of the way to your target - nice work!

Phil 

From TomF: 10mm AWI Green Mountain Boys (38 Points)

First Challenge, first entry!

I've thoroughly enjoyed The Challenge over the last two years as a spectator.  But I really wanted to get off the sidelines and into the game this year.

The primary motivation for participating this year is that I have a project that needs to be completed by the end of March.  A colleague at the local university I work at is teaching a course on the American War of Independence (AWI) and has asked me to host a game.

I've decided to run the Battle of Hubbardton which was a small (but important) rearguard action during the Saratoga (New York) campaign that immediately followed the British capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1777 (see Wikipedia summary here).  I chose this battle because it is fairly small and has some very colorful (both in uniforms and leader personalities) American and British/German units.  This is my first foray into AWI miniatures so I need to paint all units involved in the battle by the deadline.

The first AWI unit off the painting desk is an American regiment, the Green Mountain Boys (aka - Warner's Extra Continental Regiment).  A reenactment group of this regiment has a nice summary of the unit's history here. Click on the photo gallery link on the left of the web page for pictures of the reenactors in their uniforms.

All 35 minis are 10mm Pendraken.  

The regiment had dark green coats with red facings.  All other clothing and accoutrements varied based on what the individual soldiers brought with them.

There is a nice variety of poses that came in the Pendraken pack (AWA 7) which slowed me down in getting this unit finished. 

Close-up of the command stand.  The paper flag is an altered image that I borrowed from the internet.

Finally, a picture of the regiment from the rear.  Loved the sculpting of the hair on these minis.

Thanks for viewing my first submission.

_____________________________

Really lovely work Tom! I've not seen the AWI range from Prendraken so this is a real treat, especially with how excellently you've painted them. 

A funny coincidence is that my wife, Sarah, is a direct descendant of Ethan Allen, one of the leaders of the Green Mountain Boys, drawn through her mother's line. I've always bugged her to join the 'Daughters of the American Revolution', but she won't budge (she'd look quite fetching in a tricorne and ruffled shirt).

I quite like the bold green, white and red you've used on these guys - they really do a wonderful job in drawing the eye to the figures. I also like the chunky bases - their thickness will help keep fingers off the boys. I know many of us are looking forward to seeing this project develop over the course of the Challenge!

38 Points, including one extra for the brave banner. Well done!

From AlanD - Dwarves and some (ahem) Terrain (125 Points)

Some of the lovely Dwarves from Scibor Miniatures have already cropped up in the Challenge so far this year, and this week I have mostly been working on a couple of units of them for Dragon Rampant. I rarely find myself painting fantasy miniatures, but our gaming group has been loving playing Dragon Rampant and having fun making the modestly sized warbands called for by the rules. And what warband is more modestly sized than one of dwarves?

The first unit of 12 is Scibor's 'Golden Guard'. The deeply-etched detail on these miniatures make them particularly suitable for a combination of washes and drybrushing, and I am pretty pleased with the results.

My favourite figures though are from the little set of Polish dwarves made by Scibor. I just love these - they ooze character, and I loved painting their faces.

Finally, my dwarf army includes a stone golem. I love this model, made by Puppet Wars, and I included a dwarf cleric from Reaper Bones on the base as his controller. He stands an impressive 10cm tall, not including the base. But is he a figure or a piece of terrain? I leave it to you to decide. He certainly will give the order 'seize the high ground!' a new and chilling meaning.

So in total, that is 19 dwarves (including the one on the golem's base), for 95 points. I will leave it to Curt to decide what the golem is worth.

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Geez Louise, Scibor has really been getting the love this Challenge.  I think this is great as their castings are terrific but often overlooked. 

I really like these Dwarves, Alan. As you say, their faces are fantastic - I especially like the red-bronze you used for their metalwork. It's quite bold but works very well for them.

Wow. That Golem. It's just fantastic! What an amazing figure. How many parts was that kit, Dux? I love the blue runes/carvings running across his 'skin' and the lichen and moss growing in his crooks and crannies.  The additional Dwarf to reinforce his huge scale is a great touch.

On top of the Dwarves, I'm going to score the Golem as a 54mm vehicle, so 30 points for him. Great work Mr. D!

The Weekend is Here and The Deadline Draws Near

Saturday is upon us and I see from our draft page that I will be very, very busy over the next few days.  The entries for Sunday's 'Armour' bonus theme round are flowing in and I also have a lot of entries to show you today as well. It's going to be a great weekend!

Just as a reminder (okay, yes, it's a bit a nag), it is only two weeks until the Challenge Cut. We have 60 of our 100 Challengers who have already submitted entries, which is great and I suspect there will be several more in this upcoming Theme round, but we need to see all our remaining 40 Challengers get in an entry. So please get a submission done and join us on the points roster.

In order to accomodate all those wanting in getting in under the wire, I'm going to extend the deadline a day to Saturday, January 21st at midnight.

Okay, enough of being a drill sergeant, let's get on to today's submissions!

From MattT - First Post 28mm Napoleonic French Light Infantry (81 points)

Hi, this is my first submission to the painting challenge. I am quite a slow painter and winter is never my most productive time so I am hoping the challenge will give me the impetus to be more productive.

For my first submission I am working on my 28mm Blucher project. I know a lot of people play Blucher on a smaller scale but I have always been a 28mm scale gamer since my earliest D&D days.
Anyways I am expanding my French forces with some Light Infantry battalions.

Figures are a mix of Wargames Foundry, Warlord and Perry. 16 figs in total for a respectable start of 80 points.

Matt

Another first entry - welcome Matt. Is it a record? Shall we evermore refer to today as 'Firsties Friday'? Blucher in 28mm seems to be interesting choice, though I  hear good things about the ruleset, and many of the Challengers share your appreciation of the 28mm scale. I'd be interested to see how it looks when you get everything on the table.   

These are great light infantrymen, the poses falling under fire makes your base compositions look really dynamic. Very neat painting too, and I appreciate them being that little bit grubby rather than being pristine parade ground troops, and your classic French blue looks really punchy.  

81 points or you, following the Challenge tradition of a little bonus for the very fine flag.  

Phil

From KeithS: Dwarves, Wererats, and Assorted Hangers-on (315 points)

Having missed finishing anything for last week, that means I have a huge point dump for this week!  So, without further adieu, we turn first to the Dwarves.


Over the past year, I've focused pretty heavily on acquiring and painting adventurers in 25mm for use in playing AD&D (the old school kind, not that fancy new fangled kind).  Anyway, I've ended up with a fair number and decided to start off with finishing off some Dwarves, 22 to be precise.  These are from all sorts of manufacturers - Games Workshop, Ral Partha, VikingForge/Asgard, Grenadier, and who knows what else.  They're an eclectic lot, to be sure.  The scales range from 25mm to something closer to 28mm.

I believe these are Grenadier - plastic ones, probably late 80s, early 90s for their miniatures wargames.  They're a bit soft on features but nice enough.

These fancy dandies are GW.  A bit wide in the girth and really decked out in quite a lot of finery.

These are Asgard/Viking Forge, and I really like the sculpts.  They're metal, very detailed, have oodles of personality, and so on.  I love them!

This is a bit closer on some of the other ones -- not sure on the makers, as I said.  I based them all for dungeons (on steel washers with built-up wood filler carved to look like flagstones).  The downside of that is I cover up all the manufacturer's marks and my memory is too sucky to keep track of which was from which company.  Whatever...they work in a game just fine!

These two chaps were mixed in with them.  Tghey are too short to be normal humans so I was thinking they are a dwarf wizard and a dwarf shaman.  Maybe, maybe not.  But I like them!

Shield Wall!  I did several shields by hand just for drill.  I particularly like how the kite shield guy (5th from left) turned out.

 Turning now to the dark side, my next batch was 31 Wererats.  Why?  because my current D&D campaign is plagued by the dirty buggers!  I figured I should have gobs to play with.  The first groups are Caesar's Ratmen in 1/72 scale, close enough to 25mm for my purposes.  I painted two dozen or so of them, roughly half with brown fur and half with grey.  This will allow me to have multiple tribes of them, if I like, or just mix them up for variety.  The Caesar ones are ok - they are cheap though they have annoying mold lines that are harder to eliminate from the soft plastic.  I did them all dark with dingy colors and rusty weapons, as befits Rat people!

Some of the brown fur dudes.

And grey fur guys.  I liked the triangular shields - not practical, maybe, but something a bit different.

I also had a bunch of metal wererats which were of really good quality and larger than the others, pushing 28mm, I think (again, I forget who made them -- I need to get better at that!).  I did them all with grey fur except a pair I did with white, just to mix it up a bit.  Painting in white is not very forgiving!  I much prefer the darker, and easier, colors.

Up close -- a few had shields of wood.  Rather than just leave wood tones, I painted them with dull colors to make them a bit more interesting, but still trashy like I picture wererats.  Oh, and these guys had BIG blades!

Some of the non-wood shields, and a guy with a really big crossbow.

As I was prepping the figs, I noticed one "wererat" was really big, 33mm or so -- upon closer inspection I determined it was a heavily-armored wereboar.  Not sure where he came from, but I painted him up anyway.

 Wereboar flip side.

I'm in the Facebook group "Old School Miniatures" which is doing a mini painting challenge of its own -- they provided a pair of Ral Partha wizards for painting.  I decided to do mine in classic Gandalfian style, though with one based for dungeons and one based for outside.  I actually have one already painted just like the guy on the right but based for dungeons.

And the back.  The dude on the left is washed with blue ink, the one on the right with black.

Last up today (so far), I finished off a half-dozen Wights I've collected over the past year or two.  They're all quite a happy lot, despite having uniform bad hair days.  I decided to paint their clothing with a cold, weird blue as I've seen that done a lot for things like Forstgrave and Barrow Wights.  It turned out ok, though not quite as surreal as I'd hoped.

They're an ugly lot!

From the back.

That's it for now.  I count 62 figures for a cool 310 points (I wanted to break 400 total, but the day is still youngish here in Virginia so maybe...).  I'm not likely to drop a point bomb like this again, though you never know.  Next up for me:  a set of old Heritage Orcs based on Bakshi's Lord of the Rings from 1978, a bunch of Heritage Hobgoblins from the late 70s, and whatever else jumps out at me from my ginormous pile of prepped stuff!

My Minion shift starts with a points bomb, and looks like it will end with a points bomb too! Seems like that was a week off very well spent, but you'll have to get in lots of adventuring to get all of these on the tabletop.  The collection of classic dwarf sculpts work well alongside each other, and fitting to refer to those the more modern GW ones as dandies! Agree entirely that the best of the bunch are the Asgard/Viking Forge though, they look like some doughty hearthguard in all that heavy armour. Really nice shield desisngs too, thanks for the close-up. I particularly like the blue serpent on black - does that design occur a few times for a reason?  

Very fitting paintwork on the were-rats too, they're really nice sculpts for Caesar plastics. I worried I might have to tweak the points total when you described them as 1:76, but those sculpts look pretty much like skinny 25-28mms to me. Anyway, let's hope Curt agrees, or at least spares the whip if I am in error.  

315 towards your points total, with a few Bonus points on top for the funky shield designs.

Phil