From SamuliS: Night Terrors - Caprica (40 points)

Time for another quick entry before all the Christmas activities take over! This time a couple of monsters to act as random encounters in various games. With the release of Silver Bayonet a month or so ago I got interested in the rules as I've been a fan of previous Joseph McCullough rulesets and especially Frostgrave. As random monster encounters feature pretty heavily in these games I figured I needed some more monsters to bring variety and to also have miniatures that would be more suited to the Napoleonic Gothic setting of Silver Bayonet compared to the fantasy offerings I had for Frostgrave.

 

The first additions are a couple of Dopplers and Death Dogs to scare any of our bands of Napoleonic monster hunters. I'm actually still waiting for the ruleset (darn Christmas postage issues) so not sure what I will play them as, but they should fit different monster archetypes quite well.

 

The minis themselves are Wizkids D&D preprimed miniatures. I've taken a liking to some of these preprimed offerings especially for cases like this as they are quite inexpensive and for cases where I need a few monsters that might occasionally make a showing in some game based on random dice throws they are just perfect as it's super fast to get them to the table and the selection and quality of the sculpts are pretty good for the price. Painting was a breeze as well as I just used a couple of different Citadel contrast colours thrown on top of each other while still wet and edges blended for a slightly better look. The Death Dogs are maybe a bit too dark and could use some highlights, but I've tried to keep my random encounter minis as simple as possible to just have them as nice appetizers between painting other projects. And they might not ever really even make it into a game (I've still got some minis I painted for Frostgrave that have never been in a battle despite being on the random monster pool in tens of games).

 

These will part of my next step on the Quadrant map with transit from Arda to Caprica. Random monsters ambushing the player groups should fit pretty nicely to the theme of the planet. So four 28mm monsters and the extra Quadrant points should give me another 40 points to my tally. A decent enough start for the first couple of challenge days, though my output will probably drop over Christmas and I'll focus on finishing some minis I started before the challenge.

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Ooh, nice monsties, Samuli! I especially like the look of those super-scary Dopplers (makes a note to check out Wizkids offerings at the local shop). I also caved and bought a copy of 'Silver Bayonet' from Amazon Prime. Hopefully, should be here in a few days, effectively derailing all my painting plans for the next few months. Thanks mate!

- Curt

AdamC: Caprica CSS Arkansas (28 Points)

My first entry of this challenger is the "Doomed" Ironclad CSS Arkansas.  

She was started in Memphis but was incomplete at the time of Naval Battle of Memphis she was moved to the Yazoo River where she was completed in makeshift naval facilities. She was painted brown to help her hide along the Yazoo and Mississippi river banks.  

From the start her engine gave her trouble, though this didn't seem to hold her back at first.   She successfully defended herself in her first battle against 2 Union Gun Boats and the Ram Queen of the West Causing damage damage to all three, and taking some hits herself.   She then managed to slip through Admiral Farragut and the ships north of Vicksburg firing at all points. She did considerable damage to Farragut's fleet and the Admirals pride.  She took some damager her self including some engine damage. 

She attempted to attack union motors ships bombarding Vicksburg but her engines failed and she had to fight off a counter attack by Farragut Fleet.  Farragut withdrew from Vicksburg. Captain Brown of the Arkansas tried to repair his ships engines. She then attempted to assist the Confederate counter attack on Baton Rouge but she ran aground, and her engine broke as she got her self off and she ran aground again doomed in the face of the Union advance, she was scuttled and her final resting place a is under a Mississippi levy.  She had a short but eventful career, one ship against two Union fleets, she was doomed from the start much like the Confederacy itself. 

The miniature is 3D print done by my friend Arofan (3D printers are like dogs the best ones are owned by friends), I believe East Coast Ironclads did the file.  The intention was for her to be about 10mm scale to work (with some forced perspective) with 15mm troops she is 10 inches long, a shade under 2.25 inches in the beam and a smidge over 1 inch high (not counting her stack).  

I will call her a 15mm Vehicle for 8 points. 

Points 20 for Caprica. 

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Welcome back to the Challenge Adam!

What a great mini and an apropos continuation of your work last year. I worked at an ACW museum in Mississippi in my salad days, and remember doing research on the CSS Arkansas for a larger project. What a colourful yet brutal history. May she have better luck in your upcoming games!

- Curt

From MartinC Lizardmen on the Move (110 Points)

Good morning all, hope you are settling in to the challenge. This year will be something of a departure for me, yes I will still paint loads as be somewhere near the top of the table until Miles drops an epic paint bomb with 45 seconds to go on the last day, but I have decided to paint 2 entirely different types of figures than my usual historical armies. 

There is one main reason for this, I'm running out of periods to paint, literally I am down to Napoleonics and despite loads of pressure from a gaming mate to do them in 28mm I am resisting (for now).

So I have decided to paint my 1st fantasy army since the 1980s. I have always fancied a Lizardman army and spotted some 3D printed figures from Sundered Studios . They were amazing and reasonably priced, unless you buy loads. So I bought loads.

1st up 14 blue skinks with blowpipes (there are 16 but I'd practiced on a few before)

The detail is amazing, these are the simplest figures I have - the others are spectacularly good

And I really love the 2 tone blue of these guys.

Always being interested in new and alternative suppliers I bought a box of Wargames Atlantic Lizardmen. These were disappointing, the sculpts are fine and they go together well but but is the 1st time I bought a plastic kit of figures with insufficient arms. They are mainly armed with firearms (and bolters) with only just enough spears and swords to do the 24 figures. Very boring and repetitive. Luckily other manufacturers have loads of spares and I raided the bits box and found 8 bare human arms with bows that worked perfectly.

Classical green jobs

Again 2 tone painting - you will see a lot of this - think it's one of the reasons I like Lizardmen

So that is 22 x 28mm figures at 5pts each, giving me 110pts and a sensible start.

I hope that you all have a good Christmas and happy new year.

Io Saturnalia

Martin

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First, welcome back to the Challenge, Martin!

It seems fitting that our first paint bomb comes from you, well done! And individually based Lizardmen? How cool and Old Skool is this? I would have never guessed. I really like those vibrant blue Skinks. Who knew that 3D printing would change the hobby so quickly - it's astonishing really. (BTW, I'm going to add a few more points for the banners.) 

What rules are you building this force for?  I hear that they are bringing back The Old World, but at the rate you paint, and the speed of GW's R&D, you'd have all the armies done and still be tapping your foot for the rules to arrive.

Terrific stuff, mate.

-Curt 

From Curt: Felicity Foxcroft, Femme Fatale - For Passage on Sarah's Star Yacht (25 Points)

Typical for me, I've dropped into the map not having a hot clue of what I'm doing. Yep, no plan at all. Not to fear, as thankfully we have the delightful Lady Sarah with her Star Yacht to whisk us around the various orbits, depositing us where we wish, for the low, low cost of a painted female figure. What a great deal!

Accordingly, I present to you Felicity Foxcroft, dilettante, freelance spy and all-around heart-breaker.

I've had this figure in my stores for quite a while, and for the life of me I can't remember where I got her from. She looks like a Hasslefree, Statuesque, or a Pulp Miniature sculpt. Hmm, I dunno. No matter, I think she's quite the dish with her slinky evening gown, long silk gloves, and, the ultimate accessory for a lady-about-town: a .38 snub nose revolver.

Felicity will be a welcome addition to our Pulp collection. I know for certain she'll charm the socks off of the next Shoggoth we happen across. 

Okay, I have 5 points for Felicity, plus another 20 for my passage on Sarah's Star Yacht, so 25 total.  

Oh, and this will also be 'F' for Femme Fatale in the 'Alphabet Soup Challenge' (I also have 'M' for Marvin).

Aaand, 5 points towards my 95 point 'Modern Duel' with DavidB.

Now, I'm off for Caprica!

- Curt

From Paul OG - 28mm Lovecraftian Night Gaunts and Ghosts (50points)(Istvaan V)

Each Challenge I try to get an entry done in the first few days. While generally very simple offerings, they give me a sense of first steps taken, a journey begun.  Some lads here are into the Napoleonic Horror game Silver Bayonet - I think it's a salve for the thousands of Nappy troops that should be used more often, plus its just cool! Uncharacteristically, I'm not one of those with thousands of Nappy troops (in fact I don't have a single one) so I am focusing initially on the monsters.  

Here are a trio of Lovecraftian faceless horrors known as Night Gaunts to oppose our heroes. They have been patiently sitting in my pile of potential for some years, but I believe they were by a company called Hobby Products and are now OOP.  

And a trio of Ghosts - older GW Army of the Dead model from their metal Lord of the Rings range.

Thats 6 x 28mm figures to get me off the mark with 30pts, and 20 bonus points for the planet Istavaan V due to their horror/cultist/heretical nature.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a great AHPC everyone!

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*Spits his eggnog and sputters* Not a single Napoleonic figure?! How does that even happen?! That's, that's... that's heresy in itself. Now Paul, you know what I'm challenging you to do this season, right?  No Napoleonics... *huffs in disbelief*

That all aside, these lads are a great opening volley, Paul (love the old school metals). I especially covet those long OOP night-gaunts. Tasty those. I also need to get me a copy of those new shiny 'Silver Bayonet' rules - they sound like an absolute hoot.

Oh, and you forgot your post labels buddy. Shhh. I won't tell Tamsin. It will be our little secret. Oh wait...

- Curt

From GregB: And People With Skullz Shall Lead Them (16 Points)

Bladeguard Ancient (left) and Chaplain (right) for the Raven Guard. Figures from GW.

Hello again everyone, and welcome to AHPC XII. Great to be with all of you again. The first bit of work to share will find this edition of the Challenge picking up with me in mid-project - I am working on building up a force of Raven Guard Space Marines for Games Workshop's "Warhammer 40,000" setting. These two figures are part of that ongoing effort - both are multi-part plastic figures from GW's "Indomitus" box set. They are painted in the colours of the Raven Guard Space Marine Chapter.

Bladeguard Ancient

The Bladeguard Ancient - an ominous fellow who brings this inspiring battle standard to the heat of battle in order to inspire his fellow Marines. As one does.

In Space Marine forces, the "Ancient" is usually the Marine who carries a flag into battle (unless they are a Marine interred into a Dreadnought, but that is a whole other thing). Carry a flag into battle, 40,000 years from now? Well, yes, as one does. You see warfare in the dark dystopian future of Warhammer 40,000 carries with it a sort of dark-age aura. Thus we have genetically-modified super soldiers like the Space Marines doing baroque things like carrying flags and standards into battle. A symbol to rally around is a universal combat motivator, even 40,000 years into the future. This member of the already-scary "Bladeguard" makes his buddies fight even harder with his inspiring battle standard.

The standard is huge - it's a big model. Very over-the-top, and a lot of fun to paint.

But let's reflect on that battle standard a bit, as there is something odd here. Is that a flag? Well, no. Flags are nice, but, what if we kicked things up a notch? Why stop at telling the story of an inspirational martyr? Why stop at putting this martyr's image on a flag? Why indeed, when you can just BRING THE MARTYR'S REMAINS WITH YOU TO WAR? Makes sense to me! Not sure who the skeleton belonged to - maybe a Marine who fell fighting Horus' traitors during the Heresy? Yes, probably that. 

As GW said, this guy is "handy" in a fight...amirite? 

I have to hand to it to the figure sculptors/designers for GW's "Indomitus" box set. They leaned into the sillier aspects of the setting with the right mix of OTT inspiration and affection to create some lovely and fun figures to paint and game with. Look at this nut case! He is CARRYING A SKELETON HAND TO SLAP PEOPLE WITH. I love this. I wish I had five more of these guys to paint for other Chapters.

Chaplain

"Looking for inspiration? I CAN HELP WITH THAT..."

In the year 40,000 we gain an insight into the role of the Chaplain in a Space Marine chapter with a quick glance at his rules. What's this here? "Litany of Hate"? Isn't that the name of the algorithm Twitter uses? Anyway, sounds about right for Warhammer 40,000. Whether it is the Litany of Hate or the Litany of Starbucks, this fellow will jump into battle to inspire his fellow Marines to even greater deeds of heroism in the name of The Emperor, who is of course no longer around, but Is Still Always Around.

This figure is modified, for a couple of reasons. I needed the original top of his "Crozius Arcanum" (a.k.a. fancy baton) for another project. But then when I wanted to paint this fellow, I couldn't just have him carrying a stick, so I cut another skull bit from elsewhere on his armour, and stuck on the top of the baton to create a satisfactory badge of office.

I also love his fancy pistol. Not just because it looks heavy, and has a seal on it, but its name "absolvor" - nice that the Space Marines combine the notion of "absolution" and "revolver". Ah, I love 40k. As I said, the designers for this box set really found a sweet spot - the "Indomitus" box is a tribute to the things that make Space Marines a bit silly, very nicely done. 

I just assume those are all "thank you" notes pinned to his armour, courtesy of fellow Space Marines he has inspired...

I also replaced the un-helmeted head with a Mark III marine helmet. I did this because it is nice to have 30k shout-outs on 40k models, and also because I hate Space Marine figures without helmets. Space is dangerous. The Emperor spent Lots Of Money to create you. Wear your damn helmet.

These two figures are rather monstrous 28mm figures, but 28mm figures all the same, so the two of them will account for five points each, giving a total of 10 points. Just another 990 points to go. Thanks everyone - look forward to sharing more as we go. Cheers and Merry Christmas!     

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Haha! Fabulous brushwork my friend. It is heartening to know that, in amongst the self-harm that GW seems to be inflicting upon itself these days, it's nice to see them still being able to put out quality products like this.

I really like both of these figures, especially your take on the Raven Guard armour colour - far more interesting than straight black. All the baroque details in these figures really tell a story, creating such wonderful characters. I particularly admire what you've done with the 'Ancient' standard bearer. His cream tabard is brilliant, especially when set against the red and grey armour. I can hear him shouting to his battle brothers, 'Guys, If you think I'm old, check out poor Harry here...'  Also, great work on the crozius modification on the Chaplain. I laughed at your 'thank you note' purity seals - They could also be little shopping lists like, 'If you're out, pick up some gun oil, deodorant and espresso beans...'  The Litanies of SaveOn Foods.

I'm going to give some bonus points for the big, honkin' standard as it's pretty darn cool.

Welcome back to the Challenge, Greg!

-Curt

  

From SamuliS: Over the Hills and Far Away - Arda (40 points)

Dang it feels good to be back! By my counts this should be my tenth challenge though couple of the last ones haven't been exactly the most glorious points wise. Being away from home constantly due to business travel and constant overtime on top of having a new kid last year kind of burned me out a bit. But now I've been at home on paternity leave for 9.5 months and now starting a new position at work with far less travel and somewhat shorter hours so I'm ready to tackle this challenge full of energy again! I'm starting with a modest goal, but I'm optimistic that this time around I can easily reach it and increase it mid-challenge ;)

I'll kick things off with a simple terrain submission of a few different hills that I quickly painted up and flocked during a few meetings yesterday. Four generic ones for my own use at home as I'm slowly building up a proper gaming area at our new house and one for our clubs growing Warmaster terrain collection. For the Warmaster terrain I had originally test printed some 28mm terrain in 8mm scale to see how it would turn out, but hadn't really done anything with it since. Finally got around to painting it and it fits in for Warmaster quite nicely with a steep hill and ruined tower on top being a suitable hideout for a Necromancer and just provide some blockage for movement and line of sight to force the armies to manouvre a bit more.

 

Nothing really special about them. Just some XPS foam cut to shape with a foam cutter and then with stairs carved out with a hobby knife. Some spackle on top to give it texture and protect the surface followed by craft paints and some flocking. The ruins had several different washes applied on top of each other while wet to give it some blended shading that starts greenish at the bottom and moves to more basic grey tones at the top. The colours don't really come through with the bad lighting in my gaming room so you've gotta take my word for it ;)

With the Warmaster terrain I'll use it as an opportunity to take some cheeky extra points from travelling to Arda on my fantastical ruins ;) I'm only really counting the Warmaster terrain piece for points as it was the only one that involved a bit more painting and work. The other hills feel a bit like cheating. That piece of terrain is roughly 7x4x4 inches by size so probably fits the 6" cube nicely for another 20 points.

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Warmaster? Now you're talking my language. I have a bunch of 10mm fantasy stuff I want to do this Challenge, so this is very inspiring. I particularly like the whimsical carved stairs leading up to the ruined tower. Great use of online meeting time (I'm just assuming you were online and with no camera). :)

Welcome back to the Challenge, Samuli!

-Curt

From Barks: Snowflake the Black-Heart Paindeer (10 points)

I won't be getting stuck into the Challenge until next year, but did want to get some festive points on the scoreboard. I'll put up more of an 'about me' post later as well. Maybe this entry says plenty about me anyway?

This is Snowflake from Imitation of Life, a growing 3D sculpt range I really like. He's on a 40mm base and is 8cm to the tip of his antlers. I'm getting more confident in the use of Contrast as a time saver.

80mm tall monster: 10 points?

Slowpainter's ABC Challenge: C for Christmassy

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Pretty trippy, Barks. I really like him. I can't decide if it's the ornaments hanging off his antlers, or the red rockstar pants. Delightfully weird and cool mini.

- Curt

From Dave S - Demons Run - Skaro - 83pts

Thank you for everyone who wished me well.  The covid is more of an inconvenience to me than a sever illness, although it has left me tired all the time, and feeling guilty at staying away from the hospital at a time when things are starting to ramp up again.

What it has done is left me with lots of time to paint, which is why I have a second post in 24 hours.

The "Strange Doctors" theme led me to the big sack of Dr. Who miniatures from Warlord games that have been sat in the cupboard of shame for a few years.  I recently rewatched all of the new series, and I really enjoyed the "Demons Run" story arc.  To that end, I decided that I would paint up some of the forces that were in the episode.  Demons run, when a good man goes to war (or starts to paint toy soldiers).

First up, we have three Headless Monks.  These appear in several of the episodes, and are a good, mysterious bad guys.

Next, we have the Silence.  These are easily one of the most creative bad guys in all of the new episodes.  For those who haven't seen them, they are bad guys who erase themselves from your memory when you are not looking at them.  This causes no end of confusion and stress for our heroes.

By my calculation, that makes

9x40mm Figures - 72pts (provided that the Silence don't erase themselves from Curt's memory)

Skaro Bonus - 20pts

For a total of 92 points.

All of this has served as a distraction from my planned main projects for the Challenge (some armies for Basic Impetus 2)  Next up, will either be the start of some HYW French, or more participants in the Battle of Devils Run.

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Great work Dave, you've been very industrious! I particularly 'like' those Silence figures. Now, for the life of me I can remember why... Anyway, I'm sure they were great, um, whatever they were. 

Your math is a bit off as the 40mm figures come to 63 points. So, 83 points total. :) 

I look forward to seeing your upcoming Impetus 2 projects!

- Curt

From TamsinP: Who's A Good Boy? (14 points)

Row-row-row  huh-huh-huh row-row-row huh-huh row-row-row-row huh-huh-huh row-row-row-row-row
>
> Translation mode engaged:
>
> Language Detected: Canine Canadian
>
>Translating To: Human English
>
>Translation starts:

Hallo! Hallo! I'm Oscar! Have you got treats for me? No? Sob!

Anyway, you might be wondering why I'm here today. Well, last year Daddy-Curt painted figures of my brother Felix ("Sarah Bella and Felix Out For a Ride" and "Sarah Bella and Felix Redux"), but didn't paint any of me. Luckily their nice friend Tamsin (she sends me lovely treats - British squirrel droppings* - they taste so much nicer than Canadian ones) decided that I shouldn't be left out and has painted figures of me.

You probably want to know what I'm up to right now. It's almost Christmas and I know, I know, I know that Mummy-Sarah and Daddy-Curt have hidden my presents somewhere. I'm hunting for them. I've searched the house and they weren't in there, so I've sneaked into the new hobby room.

Sniff-sniff! Hmmm, that box smells of Tamsin - she must have sent me treats! 

I'll just knock it off the shelf and see what's inside...

Sob-sob! No British squirrel dropping treats! Sob-sob!Hmmm, there's a metal box with buttons though. It must be a toy for me! I like toys! Tamsin likes me!!

So, how does this toy work? I guess you push one of these buttons...like this...errrr...ruh-roh!

Stay tuned for "The Adventures of Oscar: Time-Traveler, Slayer of Squirrels** and Very, Very Good Boy***"

* they're actually dog-chocolate drops

** if eating their droppings or barking loudly at them counts as slaying them

*** well, Curt, is he?

Although there are three dog figures in the penultimate photo, I'm only claiming for two of them in this submission (the third will be part of another post).

The figures are 28mm from The Assault Group, part of their "Lurchers & Hounds" pack. They are each about the size of a 15mm horse, so I'll ask for them to be scored as 2 x 15mm foot which comes out as 4 points. 

A small start, but it puts me onto the table on Day 1. 

ps - thanks to Curt for sending me some photos of Oscar so that I could get his markings right-ish.

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Awww, Tamsin! Such a good girl!! :)

Wow. This is just fabulous Tamsin, I'm really very touched. Oscar has indeed been missing out on some of the K-9 attention from my paint desk, so it's good that you have his corner for him. You did a great job on his colouring as well, especially his russet patches. I'm definitely going to have to nab a pack of those from The Assault Group to add to my doggie stocks.

As you put in such amazing efforts on this, I think it warrants a few bonus points.  :)

Thank you Tamsin, and welcome back to the Challenge.

- Curt