From LeeH: Winter War Bunker (10 Points)

I hadn’t planned on making any terrain this year at all. Fate, however, had other ideas in the form of a gammy leg and an unexpected week off work. Painting miniatures turned out to be a bit of a non-starter—too much sitting still and not enough focus—but pottering about and making something from scratch felt just right. The result was this little Winter War fieldwork, currently occupied by a couple of my Russians. Realistically, though, it’s far more likely to end up sheltering Ray’s Finns, which rather suggests I may have built something that will be used against me. Such is life.

The piece is entirely scratch-built from what can only politely be described as rubbish. A few weeks earlier, on a walk in the park, I’d picked up a selection of sticks and bits of bark that looked suitably rough and utilitarian. The irregular base measures just over five by three inches, and the snow banks were built up using offcuts of high-density foam. These were glued down and partially filled with stones and putty to create a roughly U-shaped mound, giving the whole thing a sense of purpose rather than symmetry.

Once that had set, I cut some of the larger sticks into roughly 1.25-inch lengths to form the vertical supports of the bunker walls. Smaller sticks were laid across the top to suggest a crude roof structure. At this stage, the build relied heavily on liberal applications of PVA glue and, just as importantly, patience while everything dried properly. This isn’t fast terrain, but it is forgiving terrain.

With the structure solid, I went back in to fill gaps, add extra layers of sticks, and glue on bits of bark to break up the roofline. When that had fully dried, I moved on to a simple paint job. The ground was blocked in with an Earth Brown basecoat, while the sticks were left unpainted so the natural wood could show through. The earth was then drybrushed with London Grey and lightly highlighted with white. At this point, you might reasonably wonder why I bothered, given that almost all of it would be buried under snow. Two reasons: first, I hadn’t fully committed to 100% snow coverage at that stage, and second, I think painting the ground underneath gives the snow a more natural, convincing depth. It may be subtle, but it didn’t take long, and I think it helps. The exposed wood was then given a very light drybrush of white to give it a frosty, cold-weather look.

With the painting done, it was time for the snow. On the roof, I used Woodland Scenics Soft Flake snow mixed with PVA and water into a paste, spreading it carefully between the wooden beams and letting some of the timbers poke through. For the U-shaped bank, I applied several layers of snow in varying thicknesses to keep it uneven and rough, rather than smooth and sculpted. The final touch was the addition of a few tufts, poking through the snow for a bit of visual interest.

I probably spent a couple of hours on this over a couple of days, working in short bursts while things dried. It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t expensive, and it wasn’t complicated, but it was deeply satisfying. Even if it does end up giving the Finns yet another place to ambush my poor Russians.

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What a great looking piece Lee, it left me wishing I could award points for the actually building of the model as that is where most of the work is, and lovely work it is at that!  Everything looks very natural and it will look great on the table.  The painting itself though and the size of the piece doesn't add up to a whole lot, but I am going to bend my own rules a little bit and award 10 points because of the end effect and the work that went into the piece.

 Great work, I think most of us would love to have something like this in our terrain collection.

-Byron 

From TeemuL: Terrain Storage pots (10 points)

I knew these looked familiar, but it took a while before I noticed what I was looking at. These plastic pieces were actually miniature versions of authentic Delmonteland storage pots! Thank you flu for clearing my head!

So I glued 10 of these on two MDF bases (pond bases from Warbases) and painted them look like ceramic contructs - it took several layers to achieve the not-painted-look on them. But I think they ended up looking just fine. I added some geometric art on them, paying close attention to designs and colour choices of native Delmonteland people.

These are of course two big to carry around, so they are more like permanent water storages, granaries, containers for blood orange juice and what else. Looking inside makes you feel you don't want even know...

Scoring is simple, Byron will use his magic formula and voila - the points appear! Thank you for your attention on these plastic models by Citadel/Games Workshop.

Citadel paint pot for a scale

Those are centimeters

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Hello Teemu,  These are a great little simple repurposed item that will add a lot of character to the table. I like the natural look you got to them, and I am not sure I want to know what they were storing in some of them from the strange colours in there, but it is a very nice touch.

Because they are fairly simple but have some painted patterns on them, I am going to award each of the 2 bases of them as about the time it would take to paint a standard figure, so 5 points per base for a total of 10 points.  Hopefully I am not too far off, and they do look lovely.

-Byron 

from Ray R - Russo-Finnish Winter War - Kaukopartio Squad 50pts

 

During the Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939–1940, the Finnish Kaukopartio (“long-distance patrol”) units served as elite reconnaissance and harassment forces operating deep behind Soviet lines. Although they became formally organized and widely known later in the Continuation War, their tactics and missions were already in use during the Winter War through ad-hoc patrols attached to Finnish divisions and corps. These patrols were small—typically 4 to 12 men—and composed of experienced soldiers, hunters, skiers, and woodsmen skilled in skiing, navigation, camouflage, survival, and independent decision-making. They operated for days or even weeks with minimal support in some of the harshest winter conditions imaginable.

Their primary role was deep reconnaissance, providing intelligence that Finland critically needed due to being heavily outnumbered. Kaukopartio patrols identified Soviet troop concentrations, supply routes, roads and rail lines, artillery positions, and command posts, and tracked enemy movement patterns through dense forests. This intelligence was essential because Soviet forces were often constrained to narrow roads, making them vulnerable to isolation and encirclement. The information gathered by these patrols directly supported Finland’s effective use of motti tactics, in which large Soviet formations were split into smaller, manageable pockets.

In addition to reconnaissance, Kaukopartio patrols conducted harassment and disruption operations. These included ambushing supply columns, sabotaging communications such as telephone lines, sniping, and conducting small raids. While not designed as assault units, their constant presence behind Soviet lines strained enemy logistics and morale, creating the psychological effect that Soviet troops were under continual observation. They also played a key role in target acquisition and fire direction, helping guide Finnish artillery, support counterattacks, and confirm the results of engagements—an especially valuable function in forested terrain where visibility was limited.

Operating at temperatures of −30 to −40°C, Kaukopartio patrols exemplified Finland’s adaptation to winter warfare. They moved silently on skis, crossed frozen lakes and forests, survived on limited rations, and often functioned without radio contact. Although these small units could not alter the overall strategic imbalance of the war, they significantly enhanced Finnish situational awareness, disrupted Soviet logistics, and supported major successes such as those at Suomussalmi and along the Raate Road. Their Winter War experience laid the foundation for later, formally organized long-range patrol units and influenced modern Finnish special forces doctrine, earning the Kaukopartio a lasting reputation as the “eyes and ears” of the Finnish Army in the wilderness.

More great figures from Parkfield Miniatures to add to the collection, this is a 10 man unit, some of which can to used as an addition to the normal rifle armed units.

10 figures @ 5pts each gives me a total of 50 pts!

From DaveD . More winter coolness , excellent. Have you got your sunglasses on? There could be a danger of snow blindness if this keeps up. Another cracking edition , and great to see the continued use of the Parkfield stuff . 50 pts it is .

From PaulSS: Medieval buildings and miscellany - 60pts

 

I've been progressing well with the Barons' War project and wanted to add to the terrain collection, here a few pieces painted for the Challenge XVI.

The first piece is a 3D printed house ordered from the seller TCWminiatures3D on Etsy.

It's a lovely piece with bags of detail.

The interior is nicely detailed too.

The piece is mounted on a 150mm x 150mm terrain base from Warbases. It's 100mm high. 

The next piece is a market stall, also from TCWminiatures3D

I'd rate this one as "fair" it's massively over sized, that mug on the bar is about the size of a space marines torso!

Again, some nice, if large, interior detail.

This one is on a Warbases 150mm x 100mm terrain base. It's 100mm high

Last up from TCWminiatures3D this week, I tagged a few accessories onto my order.

A rather nice fountain, I added some water effects.

I'm sure that the stair case will come in handy somewhere. The barrels were picked up at the FIASCO show last year, not sure of the trader.

I've already got quite a few Renedra pieces in the collection, but they do come out nicely, so I added some more. 

This is a wattle and daub outbuilding with wattle fences, the fence posts are made from satay skewers.

I do like to add vegetable patches to these builds, it makes them more lived in.

The piece is mounted on a 150mm x 150mm terrain base from Warbases. It's 60mm high

The last piece in this entry is a vegetable patch using more Renedra wattle fencing. The gate is built from coffee stirrers.

Victoria stepped up to the mark when I said I'd like some model cabbages!

This one is on a Warbases 120mm x 60mm vehicle base. It's 30mm high.

Dear Lord Byron, this is my first Terrain entry of this Challenge, please be merciful :D

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Hello Paul, what a great entry or terrain you have for us today.  Some great buildings here with a load of details both inside and out. I am always torn on building interiors as they look great but so often we just ignore them so we don't lose track of where all the figures all!  Maybe just my old man filled gaming group?  Regardless, they add a lot to these buildings and you have done a lovely job on them.

 

Very nice job on breaking up the very basic palette of colours here with subtle shade differences, it looks very natural and the groundwork on the bases is excellent as well.   

The two larger buildings I am going with 15 points each, then another 10 for the outbuilding, 10 for the accessories, and 5 for the veggie patch.  But then I am going to add an extra 5 for some of the great little details, bases, and groundwork for a total of 60 points.  Great work, and I think you should get a lot of use out of these buildings in various different game systems!

-Byron 

From LeeH: Soviet Sniper Team (7.5pts)

This week has been a bit of a write-off physically. Another bout of cellulitis in my leg has meant I’ve spent far too much time flat on my back with my foot pointed skywards like some sort of injured flamingo. It turns out this is not the ideal posture for painting miniatures. Who knew. Still, I wasn’t about to let Sunday roll by without at least something to show for it. Depending on the order these posts appear, you may already have seen (or are about to see) a small scratch-built terrain piece that came together in short bursts over the week. That aside, these are the only figures that managed to stagger off the paint desk: a Soviet sniper team.

The figures themselves are from Warlord Games’ Bolt Action range, which puts them more towards the later war. The rifles look a little late, and both figures are wearing winter camouflage smocks. Historically speaking, that’s… questionable for 1939. As far as I can tell, Soviet snipers in the Winter War aren’t exactly well catered for in 28mm, so a bit of creative squinting is required. In my headcanon, these two relieved some unlucky Finns of their camo and pressed on regardless. Historical accuracy sometimes has to make way for practicality and available miniatures.

Painting-wise, I kept things simple. The figures were base-coated white and then given a wash of Citadel Contrast Apothecary White, which does a lovely job of settling into the recesses and creating soft grey shadows. Once that had fully dried, I went back in with pure white to re-establish the highlights. It’s a quick method, but one I really like for winter troops: crisp, cold, and suitably bleak.

Two figures (one of them prone) aren’t exactly going to set any productivity records. But after a week of enforced inactivity and medical nonsense, getting anything finished feels like a small victory. 

1x28mm Foot + 1x28mm Prone = 7.5 Points

From DaveD . Sorry to hear you have under the weather . I blame Ray . Despite that you have got some stuff done . While it might be small it’s perfectly formed . 8 pts it is .

From MattT : Ottoman Janissaries, ( 35 points )

 For this years Impetus Army project I am painting up some 14th / 15th century Ottomans. Its been an army I have wanted to paint for some time due to their colour and unusual units. My brother has already posted up the first of his Hungarians on the blog that will be their main opponent on the tabletop.

Been a change in pace to paint some cleaner colours after my last few grimdark posts. I'm quite taken with using static grass flowers on my impetus army bases as a unifying feature to tie them together and for this army I have gone for some white daisies to pick up the white in the minis. The minis themselves are lovely sculpts from The Assault Group.

7 x 28mm minis = 35 points

From DaveD . A colourful little collection of Jannisaries indeed . The flowers on the base have worked well here I think . I do like TAG figures , always nice to paint , and you have done a fine job . 35 it is .

From AdamW: Bombs away! 15mm WW1 aeroplanes -16pts

I have started the next batch of infantry, but as it's 180 figures I won't get them finished and based this week, so I took time out to paint these two planes up.

They are for my Dunsterforce campaign and are 1/100 (15mm scale) Martinsyde G.100 "Elephant"s. They were British fighter bomber aircraft who gained their nickname from their relatively large size and lack of manoeuvrability.

These were 3d print models I purchased online from Shapeways at great expense a while ago. As I only needed two the cost was bearable.

After research I decided on the colour scheme and numbering and set to work. The quality of work you get from scale modellers is somewhat off putting, so I had to remind myself these were wargames models and the aim is to get them done and on the table (or in the air).  

As is often the case, the photos show up every flaw and I think they look better in the flesh with the naked eye.  

My first attempt at the numbers on the tails failed as I was using some individual numbers and they were overlapping, so I couldn't get them straight.  My second attempts was using a pen....not pretty. Then I remembered I had bought some decal paper for the printer previously.  Some measuring and computer work and hey presto :)

I should have put some figures for size comparison, but they have a 12cm (just under 5inch) wingspan.

Points.

Two 15mm vehicles @8pts = 16pts.

From DaveD . These are just the job. Oh the pain of decals in various forms . Top marks for making your own . Do you have a flight stand option for these at all?