From GregB - German WW1 Jagers in 12mm

German WW1 Jagers, 12mm figures from Great Escape Games.

My "Guns of August" project continues - here is another unit for the German side. These are Jagers, "light" infantry of the German army. These are all 12mm figures from "Great Escape Games", based for their rule set "1914". Each base would represent a company of infantry, and so this would represent a full-strength battalion in the "1914" game.

MG08 gunner is on a 25mm square base - others are mounted on 25mm x 50mm rectangles.

The uniform of the Jager is different from that of the other regular German infantry of the era - they still wear a shako, and even though this had a cover, the pom at the top of the shako still showed. They also wore green (or, at least, I think most of them did, at the outset of WW1 anyway). As is common with "light infantry", they were thought to be elite, especially if you asked them. The green does not stand out as much as the green worn in 1870, but it provides a slight amount of colour variety for the German WW1 forces.

Nice detail on the kit and packs of the troops.

 

Jager battalions were attached at Corps-level in the German army, and in particular they seemed to accompany cavalry formations - or at least they did in terms of the OOBs of the game scenarios I am considering. I think they often had some troops riding bicycles to accompany with/keep up with cavalry units. I can't think of a way to represent this yet...if any clever Challenge participant knows someone who makes 12mm size bicycles, please let me know!

You might be able to pick out the officer, near the centre of the photo - "here we go, should reach Paris in no time at all!"

As before, these were very nice and fun-to-paint castings, and this project has still has a lot of momentum on my painting desk - at least for now! Thanks for reading!

AdamC: Royal Navy ship of Renown and last post.

So this will be my last post because I got my first shot today.

My second shot is scheduled for early May but I did just finish these last three ships so here they are.

HMS Revenge as ships of renown go she's not impressive. She did take part in Trafalgar and that along with her name seems to be why she is included. 

She was one of the first 74s to carry 24-pounders on her upper gun deck instead of 18-pounders so she has that going for her.

HMS Tonnant an excellent choice she took part in two of the main encounters of the Napoleonic wars the Nile (as French) and Trafalgar on the British side.

An 80 gun third rate she served as flagship for the North American Station in the second half of the War of 1812 and was active in the Chesapeake region. I gave her the spiffy there color banner so she can act as a flagship and he national color comes off so she can play a French ship if I need an extra.

HMS Bellerophon know as Billy Ruffin and "Napoleon's bane" she was one the best know ships of her class taking part in several major actions and she as in the thick of them all.

She had a reputation for giving hard blows and shrugging off the heaviest shot the enemy could dish out. 

She even gets some special rules and a unique card from Warlord.

Before I say so long until December here is a group shot six ships of the line in about 3 weeks is production any ship yard would be pleased with. 

From MartijnN: Miscellaneous Models

Well, we did not have much of a winter over here, but now that Spring has arrived Winter is coming. At least this is what I saw looking out into the garden this morning:

Thinking back to the Challenge and my grandiose scheme and what came of it I realized that I am more of the squirrel type. So, as it is about time to get a first post in here are some models I mostly intended more for the Chambers of Challenge than for anything else. As  a matter of fact I rarely play anything other than the smaller scales, so these larger models  are not that likely to see a tabletop anytime soon. However, I liked painting them much more than I had expected, and that's a real bonus for me from taking part in the Challenge. Often, I consider painting more of a necessity than a fun activity in and of itself, and to my surprise this is starting to change somewhat!

First is a Stone Golem from the Scourge of Valtan Forest Kickstarter. I had originally planned to do him for the Golem's Haunt, but I could not get a decent print at first and then I came across the fake elephants and did those. However, thanks to a new printer I did get a good print so I painted him up. I am sure he will find use as a giant in Warmaster or Hordes of the Things. Nominally part of  a 28mm range he stands about 50mm tall so I will count him as a 28mm cavalry figure for 10 points.

Next up is a wolf from the same range. Painted in various shades of grey I am happy how he turned out. Not really fitting any of the chambers, but surely there must be a use for a wolf somewhere? If only for crying too often? One 28mm figure for 5 points.

For the Larder I entered a sitting Arabian merchant. The figure had a companion, a sitting beggar. Perhaps a good entry for the Hall of Ancestors? Didn't get there in the end. Just a very simple but fun figure, if only for its unusual subject. Like the merchant, from the Lovecraft Desert Adventures Kickstarter. 5 points.

Finally, a piece likely to see some tabletop use. It might have been entered for The Shrine, for it is a vicarage or rectory from Leven Miniatures, who come heartily recommended for quality of products and service. I really think that smaller scale terrain is a bit undervalued in the cube system used and that 6mm buildings might be better scored as vehicles or as a (somewhat) larger scale miniature. However, as this little house measures 4cm x 3cm x 3cm or 36 cm3 it is 36/3375 of a 20 points cube or 0,21 points. Let's be generous and count a full point.

So there you have it, 21 points. And away we are!

JamieM - more Hell Dorado (and Bombshell) daemons

I managed to keep my focus and crack on with the daemons for Hell Dorado who had been hanging around the shelves for nearly a decade.

Family photo first, with the Greater Daemon of Rage at the back, three lesser rage daemons to his right, a succubus, a standard daemon and a couple of smaller chaps.

The greater daemon seems to be literally bursting out of his skin and liberal use of GW’s technical paint “blood for the blood god” worked a treat. The lesser daemons have the weapons shoved through what’s left of their arms. Ouch.

The greater daemon of rage was a lovely, heavy chunk of metal in four pieces. They fit pretty well with only a little bit of green stuff work required.

I tried to vary the skin tones for his belt and the poor souls hanging on his back and on his weapon.

The succubus is a Bombshell Babe sculpt. It’s part of a Kickstarter lot I have that just keeps on giving as I keep finding models in there that make me want to paint them across a lot of the games I’m interested in. I noticed this one whilst searching for something else and I decided to paint her and find some friends to accompany her, so the hell dorado daemons were found and painted up too.

I tried to give her skin a red glaze, but I think I may have just made her look a bit sunburnt.....

Next up for a close up is this little chap who appears to be a bag of skin chained together with two evil looking blades. What a delightful little nightmarish fellow.

I really rather enjoyed painting these, more for the enjoyment of it instead of for any particular game which is how I normally paint.

From ScottM: French & Indian War British

Finished another small batch of French & Indian War figs. These figures are all 28mm metal. First group is from North Star Military Figures and are from their Muskets & Tomahawk range. These are British Highland Light Infantry.

This is the first tartan I've even done and I think they turned out alright. They could use a few more black lines to break up some of the light green and blue but I don't think I have the steadiness or skill to do it in a timely fashion. But they're perfectly serviceable for the gaming table.

Next up is the British personality character pack from Warlord Games. From left to right we have Washington, Monroe and Wolfe.

More F&IW figs on the way!

So that should be an additional 50 points to give me a 140 point total.

From Kyle C - Giant of Festerthorne

Hey, so first post up after the other challenge, and I suspect based on where I sit in the vaccine list, I might be able to get in a fair amount of posts here depending on how much I paint! 

So just at the tail end of the last comp, I had begun this happy chappy for my Undead forces. Again another 3d Printed piece, this time coming from a small Brazilian company called Loot Studios which produce great files for use in DnD campaigns. 

However I highjacked their '75mm' figure version of the Ogre and turned him into an impressive Giant instead! I say 75mm in quotes as he is more closer to 120mm tall.. really towering over his undead cohorts as they march into war! A proper giant size for a game in 28mm models... 

He was a lot of fun to paint up, and I really tried to take on board some of my old teachings from classes past taken to make him stand out a bit more. 

His bright skin for instance being a direct contrast to the blue/white glow that the skeletons all have. 

The other aspect I went with is also to provide him with some tattoo work.. though being a giant, I was not sure on how or what those might look like. I mean.. he has enough real estate for some pretty epic tattoos.. But I am not really that great at freehand still, so I went with more faded black out tattoos instead. 

I have received some comments that, barring details, they do have The Rock kinda feel to them considering his muscles and the placement of them all. 

But I really just wanted something to help break up all the large sections of skin and this worked well in my opinion here. 

What some might not see, but I know sadly, is that this was actually a misprinted giant! His back tabard/skirt thing was supposed to be much lower, but for some reason stopped printing right there. Not a bad stop though so easy to work with instead of reprinting the legs, again... 

I still need to paint up some more units, and have been bouncing between projects still ( look.. squirrel! ) so I don't know how much of it will get done before the first game. But for now I have a large core, some decent heroes, and now a giant! I should be able to hold my own somewhat if a game were to break out with UK's lockdown coming to an reduced level next week. 

Currently I am now painting up some Corpse Grinders for the Nova Charity army that will represent Khorne Cultists. So a bit of conversions before they got some paint. So will post those up when they all get finished. 

Onwards to less Quarantines and more Vaccines! 

From GregB - More WW1 Infantry in 12mm

French and German WW1 infantry in 12mm - figures from Great Escape Games.

So my hobby focus continues to be soaked up by the early weeks and months of WW1, and I continue painting 12mm figures for my "Guns of August" project. In this submission, we see more German troops, but some allies also make an appearance. All figures are from Great Escape Games, and are based for their "1914" rules (although this basing will work with other rules as well). 

Dismounted German Uhlans

Dismounted German Uhlans - figures from Great Escape Games.

Who wants to dismount their cavalry? That's boring! But of course the battlefield realities of WW1 were such that dismounting was often called for - when the machineguns, rifles and artillery open fire, that whole theory of "mounted infantry" suddenly, maybe, possibly might make a little bit of sense...even though it was SO lacking in glory...

In the "1914" rules (and many other rules) the cavalry can dismount...so you functionally need double the number of bases...

The upshot of this is that your Uhlans might dismount and fight on foot, and it is nice to have figures to represent this on the table. Great Escape Games has you covered...when you purchase a cavalry unit, you get figures to represent them both as mounted (glorious!) and dismounted (sigh...). 

Excellent sculpts from Great Escape Games.

Uhlans make glorious-looking cavalry, even with the muted grey-green colours of 1914. But as infantry they seem pretty awkward. It makes me think of the Uhlans themselves sort of realizing that the whole ride-around-and-charge thing was probably over, even if they, or their officers, were reluctant to accept such a truth...

(Another) German Infantry Unit

More German infantry from WW1...you need lots of these fellows for the game...

Not much to say here...it's more German infantry, ready to battle through Belgium and into France! Schlieffen worked out all the timetables, right? So what could go wrong?

Each base would represent a company of infantry for the "1914" rules.

For the "1914" rules each base would represent a company of infantry, so the four bases together on the table would represent a battalion at its full right-off-the-train-from-the-depot strength, ready to continue the advance!

French Infantry Unit

Toujour a l'outtrance!

Can't play WW1 without some Allies, right? Great Escape Games offers French, British and Belgian figures for their "1914" range. The figures all look great, and I'm keen to test my brushes on each set. I had to pick one to be "first", and I went with the French.

Obviously, the uniform has a strong hobby appeal. Of all the combatants in WW1, the French army retained the most "classic" look to their uniform, with red pants and blue coats. The covers for the kepis, and the removal of the epaulettes take the "bling level" down a touch from the time of the Second Empire, but these are still fun colours to paint. 

A French company, ready to take the offensvie!

But beyond the uniforms there is just the great and compelling spirit and tragedy of the French army in WW1. The French went to war in 1914 with "Plan XVII" as their strategy and the idea of "cran" as their guide. The offensive was more than the order of the day...it was the central spirit, a core element of cohesion to the entire French military structure in 1914, from top to bottom. 

The base at the rear has only three castings...a broken rifle on a figure has already caused some losses...

This mix of factors led to a stunning series of military collisions, the "Battle of the Frontiers", in the opening days of the war. These battles did not go well for France. These Plan XVII attacks went nowhere, and as the scale of the German right wing wheeling through Belgium became apparent, the French would be sent reeling.

I believe that is a Hotckiss MG, although I think the French army had a different MG for the outset of WW1?

The commander is ready to lead from the front...

With hindsight Plan XVII seems quite bonkers, naturally - so much of WW1 does. But there is something I cannot describe about the French army in those opening days that is a particular trigger to my curiousity - and so the French will be the first allies on to the table for this project! This one unit was a "test" - more to follow soon, I hope...

So that's all for now - thanks for reading!