From MartinN: A premature end to my Vaccination Challenge [108 points]

I wouldn't have thought to be one of the first to drop out. But apparently miracles do actually happen as After a single entry to the challenge blog I already had my first jab. Long before schedule. 

Originally I had big plans of "finishing" my 20mm Soviets, getting the opposition to a playable size as well as doing lots of other things that now will have to happen elsewhere. But in this case I certainly will not complain.

So first for my final submission we have some more Soviets to go with those I painted earlier. Again these are lovely sculpts from AB Figures. 

Then we have the first squad of German Infantry to oppose those above Soviets. Again these are AB Figures. For flexibility I painted up enough men to either field them as regular Infantry with just one LMG or as Panzergrenadiere with two LMGs.

While I went with a completely different paint scheme with my Soviets than in 28mm, for the Germans I very much stuck to my standard recipe .

26 upright and 2 prone figures in 20mm make for 108 points to add to my total. So 611 points this year thus far.

Apologies for this rather short post but I don't really feel very talkative today. So I hope all of you stay safe and get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

From Curt to Nick: Fausto Rodriguez - Rogue Trader

That's it, I'm out of the pool. I received my first vaccination (hooray), so this will be my last post for the VC.

For quite some time now, Nick and I have enjoyed exchanging painted figures to add to each other's collection. For those familiar with Nick's skills with the brush, you will know that I am definitely the greater beneficiary in this arrangement. :)  Anyway, I muddle along and try do something for him that I think he'll like.

This year, Nick had mentioned that he'd like something Warhammer Fantasy themed, so I dug up several items from my stores that I thought might fit the bill. The thing is, I just couldn't find the mojo to get them done (I know, I'm such a princess). 

While all this was (not) happening, I found that this 40K Rogue Trader kept drifting across my desk during the Challenge, slowly getting worked on in fits and starts. It's the classic story: While beavering away on other projects I would put down a colour here, and add another a week down the line. Slowly he came to life. The figure is from the excellent Artel W. I have tons of their stuff for my Dark Heresy collection and always love working on their models.

We'll call him Fausto Rodriguez.

I asked Nick if he would be okay with a 40K figure instead of something from WH Fantasy and his response was typically accommodating, saying, 'ScFi is just Fantasy in Space, isn't it?' 

Well Nick, here you go. A burly Rogue Trader for your 'space fantasy' collection. Cheers mate, I hope you like him.

My thanks to all those who visited the blog and commented on my posts, its very much appreciated. I won't be that far away as I will continue my participation as moderator and cheering participants on in the comments. 

Be excellent to one other and have a great spring.

- Curt

From MartijnN: Another mixed bag

The fact that I am happily printing away means that the stack of "things to be painted sometime" has been growing rather than diminishing lately. Still, I have managed to get some things done. It is not really much, but I do expect to receive an invitation for a jab soon, so best to get a post in while I can!

First, here are three 15mm Essex Companions for my DBA Bactrian Greeks. I had originally intended these for the Knight's Solar but I have never even been in the vicinity! I know that a DBA  army is hardly a challenge in figure count, but since this one has been in the works for the best of three decades there's no need to start hurrying now. One more element of Companions with general and four elements of pikemen to go. I may get there yet!

Next up is a brigade of 10mm Perrin Miniature ACW Zouaves for my Altar of Freedom project. I'm not even sure if there were Zouaves at Champion Hill but they made a nice change from the standard Union infantry.

Then here are two wood golems from the Scourge of Valtan Forest Kickstarter. I intend to use these as Ents for Warmaster or something similar. They are nice figures and the prints came out fine. 

Finally,  a potions shop printed in more or less 10mm scale from another Kickstarter, the Architecture Medieval Set (yeah, I know, I tend to go overboard a little when embarking on something new, like 3d printing) . In spite of its rather unimaginative name this set actually contains some very nice and creative fantasy mediaeval buildings, and this quirky potions shop is a fine example. I rather enjoyed painting it up and look forward to doing more of the buildings.

So, there we are, 3 15mm cavalry for 12 points, 20 10mm infantry for 20 points, 2 28mm figure for 10 points and a 10mm building for 1 point (80/3375 cm3 of a standard cube or 0,023 point, generously rounded up). 43 points!

From GregB - 10mm Roman Auxilia Unit

10mm Roman Auxilia...figures from Pendraken.

I am pleased to share a slight diversion from my recent WW1 efforts...here is a unit of Roman Auxilia in 10mm. The figures are from Pendraken, and they are based for "Warmaster Ancients" - although they could, of course, work with any number of other rules.

View showing some of the detail from behind the line...

The Roman Empire is a recurrent hobby interest, albeit one that never seems to make it very far in terms of painting efforts. I fascinated by the era, but for whatever reason, I get almost nothing painted, and the meandering course of these Auxilia figures beneath my brushes are a fine exhibit of this many-starts-but-more-stops when it comes to Roman subject. 

Not so many command figures with this bunch - just an officer and a musician.

During the recent AHPC XI I completed a small group of Roman Legionary infantry. Yay! I had finally made a bit of progress towards something Roman on the gaming table! These Auxilia figures were "up next" in the painting queue at that time, and I was certain that I would keep rolling along...I had finished 20 of the 30 figures for the Auxilia unit - and the remaining 10 figures were primed, base-coated and sitting on sticks, waiting for a couple colours...but...SQUIRREL! I decided suddenly "hey, maybe I'll finish some of this other 10mm stuff" and before you know it, the inspiration had moved on...

Ready to move out!

So these Auxilia have been sitting for just about three months, nearly completed, on my painting desk, but I just would not get around to finishing them. I guess they finally spoke to me or something this past weekend, as I settled down and finally finished the last of the little guys and got the group based. Here they are!

As always, the Pendraken castings are lovely and I really recommend their 10mm products. I now have four units of 10mm Romans painted - oh my! That's hardly anything, but still a massive increase over the "zero" number painted prior to AHPC XI...who knows when the Roman bug will bite again, but watch for more! Anyway, back to WW1...thanks for reading, and stay safe everyone!

From Curt: Commonwealth Figures for 'Moonstone'

I'm getting my first vaccination soon, so I thought I'd blitz along and get a few more submissions in before I have to bow out. 

While muddling around online this winter, I came across this wonderful boutique game called Moonstone. Being instantly charmed, I duly pulled out my credit card to snap up the base set (and well, perhaps, a few additional figures 'fell into' the order to give a nice round number).

The basic premise of the game has 2-4 competing factions battling each other over a 3' x 3' playing surface to dig up valuable moonstones which, true to their name, can only be found at night. The factions, or 'Troupes', are 3-6 figures strong, and are composed of humans, faeries, goblins, fauns, giants, etc. The scenarios last only 4 turns, which makes for a rollicking, fast-paced game.

The figures for the game are cast in very fine resin and are amazing in their over-the-top character. Charming, silly and sometimes grotesque, the figures definitely tap into the visual style of Brian Froud, Arthur Rackham and Jim Henson. When you look at them you can't help but think of creatures featured in Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and Legend.

That being said, being a bit of a mutton-head, I'm debuting this project with the rather boring human faction first, whereas I should have kicked off with the much more whacky goblins. Oh well, you should be able to get a visual sense of what the figures have to offer, and hopefully it sparks you to visit me again over the next few weeks to see some of the other factions.

The humans largely compose the Commonwealth faction. They have a very Grimm's Fairy Tale, Renaissance German look about them. The four characters I present here are: 

Baron Von Fancyhat

Eric the Squire

Friar Flavius

Each figure has various abilities and a signature move during combat situations. Most of these are very much in-spirit of the character and often hilarious. For example, Friar Flavius' signature move is 'Spank'. It does no damage to the opponent, but he gets 'healed' for his efforts. It fits perfectly for this fellow in his S&M gear and spiked paddle (the pink 'combat slippers' were an inspired afterthought).

Flintlock

So there you go, four 'heroes' from the Commonwealth, ready to battle it out for some precious moonstones. I'm working on the Goblins next, so please feel free to drop by my blog to see how I'm getting on with this project over the coming weeks.

-Curt

From Curt: Fire Ember Kobolds for D&D

In my previous post I introduced our original party of D&D adventurers from 1980. From that, my friend Gary and I have decided to amuse ourselves by playing a small campaign which will serve as the prelude chapter for our doughty heroes.

So, for their first adventure, I thought I'd start them off with some classic, old-school, low-level dungeon villains in the form of, yes, you guessed it, Kobolds!

So, with Kobolds in mind, I had to find some figures that could fill the ranks. This was a little difficult as I didn't really like many of the dog-faced versions, preferring the more draconic look.

To the rescue came this boxed set from Epic Encounters aptly titled the 'Shrine of the Kobold Queen'. 

With this set, not only do you get a good sized batch of Kobolds, but you're also treated with an additional monster (a Basilisk!), an excellent adventure and a two-sided play mat - a terrific value! (I say in my best car salesman voice)

Out of the box, they came in bright red, moulded hard plastic. The sculpts are pretty characterful, well-defined and a pleasure to paint. Below is a sampling of the twenty miniatures from the set. 

Kobold warriors with bow and spear & shield. There are eight of these in the box, giving a nice base for the mob.

Fire Ember Snakes with Kobold rider. There are four of these in the set - Giddyup!

As I wanted to get them on the table for play, I didn't shilly-shally around with a lot of fine detail. Lots of contrast paints and a few highlights - Bam! Done.

Kobold Kleric

Kobold Champion

One of the two Kobold Assassins

Magma Belcher Basilisk(!) and Kobold handlers

Yep, a poster-child for mirrors and Pepto Bismol, this guy barfs lava AND can turn you to stone. So, definitely not recommended as a house pet.

Mother Krangor

As to points, I'm scoring the 14 rank and file Kobolds as 20mm foot figures and the Basilisk as the equivalent of a 20mm gun. Mother Krangor and the Fire Ember Snakes I think are around 40mm. So, that gives me a grand total of 99 points. This, added to the 30 points of my other two posts, will give me 129 points, enough to exceed my 120 point target. Hooray! This is especially good, as scuttlebutt has it that my age group is getting called up for the jab soon.

That being said I hope to have another couple of entries up soon!

- Curt

From StuartL - An Imperial Guardsman

Hi All,

I haven't posted anything for a while, so first off I'd like to apologise for that. Sorry. After AHPC XI, I thought that I was ready to get back to the painting desk straight away, but as it transpires, I needed a little time to refresh. Having previously painted up a single marine for the Vaccine Challenge, I have now painted up a single Imperial Guardsman. 

I started painting up a bunch of minis a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't seem to get them looking right. In frustration I gave up on them and decided it was time for a break. Over the winter holidays, I had downloaded a bunch of PC games, so I figured that they would provide a bit of a distraction from the old painting desk. I got really into a game called Wargame: Red Dragon, a cold-war tactical simulator with US, Chinese, and Russian armies among others. I spent every free minute for the past week or so playing it until I finally got bored. I finally went back to my hobby room on Friday evening and started looking over the models I had started previously to see where I could pick up from.

There are a few more models in the works, but I did get this one guy finished and ready for photographing. I'm trying to avoid batch painting for a while, so there is just one lone guardsman here. I've added some insignia to the shoulder pads as well as some weathering on his armour and gun.

Hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of my posts over the next few weeks. I've got my head back in the game and a stack of minis to paint up.