From TomM: Rebel Troopers

Part of a Skirmish force I`m building for once clublife picks up again after Covid-19, these 4 Rebel Troopers are the first models I painted for the game.

I got no idea how it plays or so, I just allowed myself to be sucked in and we'll see from there though.

But I made an army list and slowly my models are arriving by mail, so I might actually get gaming before summer brake as a result.  I picked the Rebel faction (as if these guys weren`t a dead giveaway) as such, and no light-sabre's in my list.

I also printed out a Cargo sled, which makes some good scenery for the game and a nice little vehicle to display the models on for now, alongside some crates I also printed up.

So, let's call this a decent start.  I`ll paint the rest of the boxed set in the future, but first my priorities now are all the models for all the forces in all the leagues I registred in for 2020...

AdamC: Tomb Stones

These are some lazer cut Tombstones from Things From the Basment.  They are freebees they threw in with all purchases at Huzzah!con last year.

I used some MDF bases with a little putty  sand and flock.

There is a nice mix of styles here  from simple rectangels to the celtic cross.

From MikeW: Elizabethans and Border Ruffians

First off, hope everyone and their families are doing OK in the present crisis, I work in IT infrastructure so have been really busy with working, looking to ensure that there is enough capacity to cope with the sudden huge leap in demand from people working from home.

Anyway, that's just an excuse for why its taken me time to completed my first post, which is a collection of Elizabethan & Border Riever figures by Wargames Foundry and Hoka Hey miniatures.

First to show and tell are a group of 6 x 28mm Garrison Archers, by Hoka Hey Miniatures. These painted up nicely and I have given them blue tabards edged in yellow to signify their garrison status.

Garrison Archers from Hoka Hey

Next on show are 8 x Wargames Foundry Swashbuckler Pikemen, in a mix of breastplate and leather jacks. These are some of my favourite figures done to date for this period, they come in a wide rage of dress and with separate weapons the pike can easily be substituted with a spear, bill or halibard to make even greater variety.

Wargames Foundry Pikemen

Third on the list was a second set of 2 x 28mm Hoka Hey figures, this time representing the Armstrong Family. Again these are very nice figures and I have based two of the figures that I took to be leaders on a 2 pence piece instead of the 1p sized bases I ]'m using for other ranks.

Armstrong men form Hoka Hey

Hoka Hey's Armstrong Leaders

Finally is the group group of figures from Hoka Hey, consisting of 6 x Calivar men, in a variety of stances. Like the Archers depicted earlier in this post the figures paint up nicely, though I did notice some need for filler where voids in the casting process elect gaps in the figure as supplied - but nothing to disastrous...

Calivar Men form Hoka Hey

From PeterA: Ruined Apartment Block and Burnt out Car

First of all a big thank you to Curt for organising the Quarantine Challenge - a splendid opportunity to keep spirits up at this pretty surreal time.

My first submission is a scratch-built apartment block in 20mm for modern wargaming. I have been interested in the first Chechen conflict for a while now and the news that Carl Titterington is planning on releasing a Chechen War supplement for his Contact Front rules got me fired up to add some terrain. It is made out of foamcard and artists mounting board and is meant to survive the rigours of gaming rather than being an architectural masterpiece! So I haven't bothered with doors (might go back and add these later) although I have put in a few shattered panes of glass here and there (made from plastic blister packaging)

Depicting rubble is always a compromise between realism and playability - I have gone firmly for the latter so that I can place figures without precariously balancing them. With my sausage fingers, I need all the help I can get!

To make it a bit  more user friendly in games, the rear wall slides off, making access to the inner floors more straightforward. Again, function over form so no staircases, internal rooms etc. I started painting the internal walls but the card started to warp so I have left the rest. The idea of the removable wall has been pinched from Alan Sherward's utterly brilliant Stalingrad table (featured in Wargames Illustrated a couple of issues ago - you can see it here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yJsgbZ4wUo).

Finally, a bit of scatter terrain for figures to take cover behind. This is a toy die cast VW which has been weathered using GW rust effect paint. The windows have been damaged and I drilled a few bullet holes as well, but it was basically a very quick and simple job for once.

I hope to add more bits and pieces for this conflict over the course of the Quarantine Challenge, as well as finishing off a few of the things started during the Painting Challenge.

All the best - stay safe and stay healthy.



KenR 28mm Crusades Crossbow

After the tank fest of the main Challenge I was always going to go off at a tangent once it was over. There are still the German 28mm vehicles to do and my 15mm Kursk project to attack but for now it was off the heavy metal and onto the Medieval plastic.

Those familiar with the output from Yarkshire Gamer will be aware of the Crusades Project it's had a couple of false starts but I keep chipping away at the edges of it now and again. I've got plenty of stuff prepped which if I remember correctly I did for Challenge VIII a couple of years ago.

So here we have a unit of 24 Crossbow, the figures coming from the Fireforge Foot Sergeants box, the flag from Flags of War and the shield decals from Battle Flag. We have played a few games with the Deus Vult rules and we are slowly getting used to them, with the inevitable Yarkshire Gamer house rules.

Although it's not a points based challenge I thought I would keep my own personal score so 24 figures at 5 pts each is 120 plus 1 for the flag, 121 towards my personal challenge.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be more Crusades, a large Italian Wars village (ok it's a town), some 7TV figures and if your lucky more Tanks and Italian Wars stuff. Stay safe out there.

From MattT: Workers of the World Unite - VBCW

Over the last painting challenge my brother has been showing his collection of royalist forces for VBCW, and i thought it was time you saw what he is going to be facing.

This first group is a bit of a cheat as i didnt paint them in the time the blog has been live, but they are all post Covid-19 so im counting them and showing them off.

Sailors on the HMS Aurora docked at Hull have mutinied and renamed the ship Unity. They have managed to unearth an old armoured car for moral support and are ready to fight for their freedoms.

Since the challenge began properly i have managed to add a pair of pulp sailors to the crew. Figures from Artizan Designs Thrilling Tales.

The Workers of the East Riding have raised the banner, and men are flocking to the cause as we speak. Figures from Sloppy Jalopy miners set. Banner is a cut and paste job from images off the internet.

All the best, Stay Safe. Matt

From Barks: 40K Chaos Cultists

Like many of you, I'm feeling the post-Challenge slump. I'm going to use the Quarantine Challenge to push myself to get at least one completed model done each week. I've got an embarrassing lot of half completed bits around- including these cultists. I did the skin during the Challenge, but didn't finish them until now. I have reduced the volume of pink, since they're mostly cannon fodder and not worthy of more pink. There's still a lot of detail...

Skull-o-meter™: 0

This means I have finally painted all the figures from the atrociously named Assassinorum: Execution Force!