From DavidB - A gift for a friend and a gift from Papa Nurgle (130 pts)

Roger and Nova enjoying the snow - Roger believes sub zero is appropriate temperature while Nova thinks snow is delicious.

I've been really busy of late. Buying a home, physical therapy, work, taxi service for kids, and honey-dos. I haven't gotten nearly enough time at my paint desk, but I do like the chaos of a fully packed schedule and all the required time hacks. I definitely enjoy being busy. It is hard to sit still if my hands are not busy.

I still have to finish my son's gift, but at least I have one finished for delivery and our scheduled massacre... well, my massacre.   I have known "Razor" for over a decade (I am Old Man).  We have shared two deployments together one was to Afghanistan where we first met.  Razor would often inject conversations with Thunder hammer, bolters, and other 40k terms always with humor and satire. He has an appreciation of of the fiction, games, and minis among other need franchises. Razor is a veteran of 10th Mountain, served in a RSTA company from the Vermont National Guard, and has been on almost as many deployments as I, but in less time. He often volunteered to extend deployments especially if fellow battle brothers chose to extend time "in the box". If something goes sideways, he wants to be there, shoulder to shoulder with his brothers.

Razor is a lot like me, and I do count him as family. We both put others before ourselves and are restless if given no tasks. Often we talk about 40k, Star Wars, D&D...I've learned about many computer games and Mech Warrior/Battle Tech from him. 

Razor has been collecting a massive Blood Angel Army. His vision is a company of heroes and veterans that Shepard the infamous Death Company of Blood Angels. Death Company are Blood Angels that are consumed by visions of their Primarch Sanguinius being slain by Warmaster Horus. They are filled with rage and fury. They will either die in combat or slowly go mad. 

Fighting Razor is to face cohorts of stompy dreadnoughts (Blood angels have librarian dreadnought which are like merlin encased in an Iowa class battle ship) sanguinary guard, veterans of all types, and chaplains galore. Blood Angels are top tier in assault, but also shoot very well. Razor's Blood Angels are packed with elite combatants that literally shrug off wounds and return fire as they close in to smash with fist and sword.

My armies are slaughtered everytime. My victories are only moments where I destroy all his dreds, have one guardsmen stand firm and evade every cut at him, or just weather every shot his force can unleash in a turn.  It is also great fun to play him and laugh in conversation and at the antics of our troops on the table.

Razor deciding which of my squads die first.

For his gift I assembled a squad of Intersessors with assault boltrifles. I used all the veteran shoulder Pauldrons, I used a lot of Chapter specific bits. I posed them and equipped them for kill team as well.  They were painted first in contrast paints then given thin layers of base colors with highlights. 

Their left knee has the black field with red cross denoting that they are part of Death Company. To fit Razors theme, they are veteran intersessors who advance and give overwatch to the Death Company assassault.

The Sgt has a Thunder hammer and stands next to a trooper which can be a fighter specialist in kill team.  Razor likes all his marines to wear helmets. I like to have certain models stand out. The knife fighter was given a head with scars while the grenade launcher marines have bare heads with targeters. Very easy to find on the table. Another marine was given a Sgt arm with a computer who can either lead a half squad if split into two combat teams or serve as a communication specialist in kill team.

The knife attached to his back pack marks him as a combat leader.

They are festooned with vials of their primarch's Blood and other blood angel relic heraldry and insignias as well as bits to indicate their veteran status. Each marine is his own character with no two alike. I used Blood for the Blood God technical paint to gloss up the blood drops, gems, and insignias on them.

All of Razors models are painted by professional painters around the world. I spent some time making sure these were better than my old Blood Angels that I gave him.

They will soon be blasting my troops! The bases are a desert texture paint given a wash of earth tone and followed by scattered clumps of tufts. The purple-ish clumps were also bought with the marines and Blood Angel bits as I was thinking it would be nice contrast to the basing and models. 

My White Scar marine standing next to Leto. I did get the camera figured out, mostly... I spent too much time highlighting the white after the contrast paints to have a camera flash erase it all...I wonder if the camera flash could erase past bad decisions as well? ;)

And speaking of bad descions....

Papa Nurgle was one of several diversions from finishing my son's and Razor's gifts. These fellows have been in the mountain-of-neglect for some time. Of all the "Horus for Hope" troops- thanks for that term, Greg!- I prefer the Death Guard for lots of reasons. As the power of disease and decay, Nurgle is all about family and sharing. Nurgle is not pointy, sharp, and fast. Nurgle is rounded, plushy...er squishy, and ponderous.

I only had 10 Pox Walkers and they do not need a champion. I still gave them one by way of an errant old cultists. He was painted with blotchy skin as the gas mask seemed to fit in with his goon squad.

I used Blood for the Blood God on his club. I now can only see him as Negan. 

The pox walkers got lots of paint including highlighting every putrid pustile. Once painted to completion they got weathered with types corrosion,  rust, Blood for the Blood God, necron tesseract. And nurgles rot. I spent a lot of time on them, but they are loaded with details....and slime....and that cool Latin word viscera.

I also finished a rescue of old plague marines bought at Adepticon. They needed a scrubbing, but now allow me to field all of my classic Death Guard squads in groups of seven.

The got the exhaust ports painted red like the old army. I also used the verdigris corrosion on them. The trick to painting Death Guard is to keep applying colors till you seem close to getting tetanus. 

These three glorious goons are the reason the death guard we halted as a project. They are glorious and detailed, but dwarf the current chaos terminators. They were fun to paint, but they change so much more that just the anesthetics of the project.

Besides being use chunky boys, Death Guard have other new units and abilities which diverge them from other chaos forces. I haven't fully decided if I want to commit to that. Still three new Death Guard and 7 pox walkers is a great starting force for kill team. 

So 26 models cleared from the desk. 10 a gift to a friend and 16 a gift of Papa Nurgle....just don't touch them and wash your hands before eating!

I also will take another pip in the skull duel..so many skulls here and at least 10 on the chunky death guard champion alone! 

 

Very nice work and I'm sure Razor will enjoy stomping on you with his gifts! 

Tamsin

From MartinC - Even More Lizardmen (312pts)

 So this is the last of my lizardmen from now (I've painted all the ones I have and time for change of direction). They have been a joy to paint.

First up another regiment of 16 skinks with spears. The whole army has a very Aztec feel and so most of the weapons in the army are not steel but bronze, stone or wooden

These guys have the standard green and yellow colour scheme with bightly coloured shields

Next another 13 skinks to complete a regiment. Same deal as the previous

Next up are 2 skinks on microtyrannosaurs. The skinks are converted from the Sundereded Studio figures and the dinosaurs from the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (although they have now stopped selling them).

I say converted, I found figures that would fit on the back of the dinos and removed their loin cloths

Next up another species of lizard with red and orange crests.

These guys have tortoise shell shields and I really like them

Next up are 12 huge lizard men. These are 40mm figures and look exactly like Godzilla. I gave them a brown colour scheme with bronze shields and weapons. Using KoW these would be 4 regiments and are equivalent to Ogres or Trolls 

I have acquired a couple of Frostgrave Cobramen and these will join the army as heros and wizards

Finally the whole army so far. Almost all were painted during the challenge

These 4 weren't, the turtle wizard is from Mr Lees, the Albertosaurus with the Howdah is from the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Co. and the orange Microtyrannosaur was prepainted by Mark Copplestone and bought via North Star, it's very cool.

Looking at the army there are some gaps with the number of figures not really matching the number of regiments. Within my group there is a legendary box of unpainted lizardmen from Warhammer V2. These have now been found and have fallen to me and I will paint them up later in the challenge when I get them.

So the scores on the doors

41 x 25mm infantry = 205

2 x 25mm cav = 20

12 x 40mm infantry = 84

3 standards = 3

total = 312pts.

Next up I think Sci Fi

Martin

Well, I hadn't even looked at this post when I made the joke about Martin "kicking up a skink". Fantastic work on these and it's great to see the army (so far) on parade. I'm sure we'll all look forward to seeing the WH V2 ones painted up later on in the Challenge.

Tamsin

Tamsin's Tangy Tuesday

 

"Good morning, Ladies, Gentlemen...and Ray. Well, we've had a very busy week here on Snowlord's Peak Resort Station. Exploratory trips by guests out to locations in Challenge XII Quadrant have clocked up a grand total of 7,991 parsecs in the past seven days, more than doubling the total so far. We currently stand at 15,578 parsecs traveled toward our pledged target of 82,505 parsecs."

"71 of our expected 101 guests have arrived and begun their explorations. I have been asked to remind anyone who has not arrived so far that the joining portal will be shut down after 21 January."

"For your entertainment today, I have reports (so far) from five guests:

• Martin C is kicking up a skink on Lady Sarah's Star Yacht before taking on a deaf star
• DavidB is gifted
• Sander is reviewing the original 1972 Solaris
• Lady Sarah has been at the 'shrooms
• Tasha is reviewing the 2002 remake of Solaris and doing things with pointy-ears.

Further reports from our explorer guests are expected as the day goes on."

"The stock of coloured wax crayons has been significantly reduced and we have had to place an order for additional stocks. Hopefully the resupply will arrive before the remaining stocks are consumed."

"Finally, I have been asked by the Station Master, Captain Campbell, to remind our guests that any lifeforms brought back from their explorations are not to be disposed of via the garbage system. We lost three maintenance workers who were checking a blockage in the trash compactor on Deck G-Alpha. A security team sent in to find them discovered a carnivorous Bzz'kktttll'kkzzzzt from the southern continent of Kzzttlll'lllttzzk. It has now been eliminated, but we would like to avoid repeats of incidents like this."

Toodle-pip!

Tamsin

Adamc: Ruse De Guerre Frigates for Solaris (50)

Here we have two 3D print frigates provide to me by my friend Arofan (you should check out the games he's written at Application of Force).  

They are Spanish "Mahonesa class" Frigates (if you have a printer they are a free file: from Simon Mann) and are excellent prints a bit smaller than the Frigates from Warlord but they work well enough with them. 

I dressed them up with figure heads left over from my Warlord Merchants one with a Pegasus and the Red "team colors" that Warlord (and Games Workshop before them) put forward for the Spanish.  It was a fairly uncommon color scheme historically but it does look good. 

The Second has a red headed Mermaid and a typical yellow stripe at the gun deck.

These are among the few 3d prints where the stern doesn't need any special dressing up.  its not decorative but plain sterns were common in frigates. 

Of course two of this class where taken by the English and put into service!  Being Spanish built they are prefect for the Ruse de Guerre  of Flying False Colors. Use magnates to allow me to switch a ships allegiance or to allow players to use this Ruse de Guerre.  So its an open question what fleet these ships serve, Spanish, English, and Chile all used this class and they could serve in any. (note to self fund early Chillan navy flags).  

Frigates are 15 Points each with another 20 Points for Solaris making a total of 50. 

The Spanish built some lovely ships Adam and these are great 3d prints.  I like that you can fly 3 different flags from them, and Lord Cochrane could fly two of them!  

From Mike W - 28mm Dr Who Miscellany (172 Points, Sqirrel, Skaro)

Out of the pile of plastic and lead have emerged a small collection of Dr Who related figures, namely his enemies - Davros and some Daleks, Cybermen and a few Ood.

The Whole Group

First to the iconic Daleks, these are mostly ridiculously cheap plastic figures known as 'Mini Monster Army' that I sourced off of eBay and I already have number of these painted up in a range of bright colours. These guys are going to be Davros' personal body guard. (For those not in the know Davros was the inventor of the Daleks and he's a pretty sinister guy, hence the black and silver colour scheme for him and his followers. 

Unpainted (Mostly - a couple supplied with very poor finish) as of Monday!

Included with these Daleks is a rare Heavy Weapons Dalek. This and the Davros figure are Warlord Games miniatures - if I remember correctly.

By all accounts the Heavy Weapons Dalek is a venerable,
battered and somewhat disillusioned member of the Dalek Forces 

Whereas Davros, is your typical overbearing megalomaniac,
subject to underestimating his enemies 

As these Dalek models are so cheap (30-40 pence each in UK, if you look hard) they often turn-up with broken pieces, I have simply taken to modelling these as destroyed / knocked-out Daleks by taking a pair of clippers to cut off the top of the model and when painted stuffing the hole with some smoke. (Not sure what this 'smokey' material is exactly but rather conveniently Perry Miniatures use it to pack their metal figures, I long ago realised it makes good smoke / steam, when teased out).

On reflection a darker background may have been better to show off the smoke effect!

These models were undercoated grey, given two watered down black washes before using neat back paint to colour in the lower bumper and collar. Oily Steel was used for the grill work and weapon / sensor stems before a touch of orange on the head sidelights and a light blue 'eye' added to the head stem.

These Davrovian Daleks, will join others I have previously painted,
to form a force within a force for the Daleks

And then the gutsy bit, the silver domes on the body of each Dalek - did you know each model has 48 such domes? The Davros model has 56 domes (presumably because he's in charge!), that's a total of 670 domes...

Luckily I have a secret weapon - a silver Sharpie pen - this allows an oil based silver paint to be placed via a relatively fine nib, onto each raised dome. It made a horrible job tolerable!

Repeat that all with the Heavy Weapons Dalek, which was painted white and then a Gold Sharpie pen was used to add the gold/brass detail on the figure. Another 56 domes, this time in gold.

Next we have a group of Cybermen, again from Warlord Games, this time in plastic. These are pretty much straight out of the box, these guys are straight forward to paint, silver washed with watered down dark tone, then the light blue chest light added and a matt varnish.

Cybermen on their frame

The Cybermen crew, heartless robotic foes of humanity

Close-up of a Cyberman

Finally the Ood, again pretty sinister chaps, all dressed in black with tentacles for a mouth and a small white ball that is a universal translator, enabling then to communicate with anyone they come into contact with.

Ood figures glued to bases and undercoated grey.

Again the Ood are available from eBay as part of a Mini Monster Army set that appears there from time to time and are again as cheap as chips! These guys were undercoated grey and then given three very watered down black washes, to build up a black cloth feel. Skin tones were Balor Brown dry brushed with Ivory and then washed in regular flesh tone. The Tentacles were first painted Imperial Purple and the washed in purple ink.

Not sure what the collective noun for Ood is, lets say here's a flock of Ood!

The translator device was painted white before a matt varnish as scenic basing added.

A detailed view

With all this Dr Who stuff, I sound like I know what I'm talking about! Not so. Its all just what I've found on the web! I haven't really watched any of the episodes since David Tennant left and even then I was an infrequent watcher...

...I just like the idea of putting on a Dr Who themed game at some point in the future - another surrealist Survivor type game no doubt!

I've put all the figures on round bases and have used a home made premix sand / grass scatter - not much shows on the Dalek models though.

Finally as I'd like to argue that the Dr Who theme can be considered a 'Strange Doctor', so I'm claiming the Skaro Bonus

POINTS

13.5 x 28mm Dalek Figures         = 67 Points (I scored the three destroyed Daleks at half normal rate!)

7 x 28mm Ood Figures                 = 35 Points

10 x 28mm Cybermen                  = 50 Points

Scaro Bonus                                  = 20 Points

TOTAL                                          = 172 POINTS

Great score on locating all of these Dr Who figures Mike.  You've done a great job at painting them too, especially given the starting point.  You counted the domes on your Daleks?  The knocked out Daleks are great, I am very familiar with the Perry packing material.  My wife is always happy to see an order from perry as their boxes make great cases for earrings and the like.

from BradS Soviet Invasion of Klendathu [Klendathu][150 points]

Soviet Invasion of Klendathu! 

This week my Soviet Army is gaining momentum and I have decided to invade Klendathu! And as with any real Soviet Invasion I am sure it will go very wrong very quickly. 

Soviet Infantry

Here are the next 6 infantry from my pile of 28mm Under Fire Miniatures figures. These cold war troopers are the backbone of my Soviet force I am building. I am driving hard to have enough vehicles, figures and terrain to put on a game in the near future. Don’t be surprised if you see more Soviets next week. 

Soviet Vehicles

As you can guess, my Soviet infantry isn't going anywhere without their trusty vehicles. This week I have focused on more T-64 tanks and BMP-1 vehicles. It is easier to batch paint these then it is to do them one at a time. It takes a while to complete them but it is soooo worth it! 

Kleinhaus - German post war housing

In my research from Cold War terrain to grace my gameboard, I found that the Kleinhaus was a prominent feature in the German landscape during the Cold War time period. After the war there was a housing boom where a lot of these simple yet elegant homes were built. I imagine a Cold War battle among these types of structures so I had to make one. This is my first attempt at a custom building. I designed this and had it laser cut for me. I think it turned out nice and I plan on doing a lot more.

Game Plan

For some inspiration, I put together a game board layout to see how everything looks all together. Not a real game yet but certainly  getting to the point I can put one on. If anyone is interested in joining I live in Kansas City USA.

Points:

6 x 28mm Soviet Infantry = 30 points

4 x 28mm Soviet Vehicles = 80 points

1 x House = 20 points

1 x Klendathu : Invasion gone wrong = 20 bonus points

Total: 150 points

Well I'd be worried if Mother Russia sent these guys my way! Lovely Cold War Soviets Brad. Really like the AFVs. Does anyone else have a hard time saying BMP with out sounding like Inspecteur Clouseau? I also treally like the neat and tidy little house - was it East or West German?