From ClintB: 10mm SCW Trucks and Artillery & Feudal Samurai (32 points)

From Clint:

Yet more 10mm Pendraken figures. Starting with some heavy artillery. These are 2 French 155mm Field Guns crew and tows. As they are larger artillery I have given them regular army crew. As about 1/2 the army deserted at the start of the war both Republican and Nationalist forces had trained troops as well as militias so the uniforms don't really identify the troops.

The two lorries are generic lorries from the period (Skytrex 200 range Opel Blitz circa 1934). 

Additionally finishing as I started, here are 16 Pendraken Samurai Archers. I still have more to do of course and an order for more to pick up at Salute. These will just bulk out my red army with 4 extra stands.

Great work Clint. I had to laugh when I saw the first pics of the SCW vehicles. With how those trucks are set on that cliff backdrop they look as if they're pulling their own last stand, 'Thelma & Louise' style. ;)

Those samurai are fabulous with their sashimonos waving bravely in the wind. I really think this is a great scale for feudal Japanese wargaming as it provides the iconic mass of the period formations but yet, due to the small size of figures, reduces the perceived need to get drawn into all the crazy detail of the armour (right Tim!). 

These miniatures will give Clint 32 points. Well done!

From ClintB: 10mm Spanish Civil War Assault Guards, Mountain Guns & Bilbao Armoured Car (44 points)

From Clint:

I need to round out my 10mm Pendracken Spanish Civil War forces for a game later in the year at Posties Rejects. To that end I have painted 21 "Guardia de Asalto" these were a paramilitary force before the war started and split so some fought on each side.  They wore black uniforms with a peaked cap and were some of the most mobile troops in the war.

The Bilbao Armoured Car had a crew of 4 and could carry an additional 5 personnel. It was armed with a 7mm Hotchkiss machinegun and was issued to Guardia de Asalto. So while the majority of Asalto used lorries a few were driven to battle in these. 

Unrelated to the Guardia de Asalto I have also finished two 65mm Italian mountain guns. I have given them militia crew as the broken down travelling version has. This will of course mean that they can pack up and move out or arrive as the battle situation dictates. 

Wonderful work Clint. I've not seen the 10mm SCW range from Prendraken before so this is quite a treat. I must say all of these figures are great but I'm particularly taken by those pack teams - evocative of the period and very nicely done. 

This fine selection of SCW figures will give Clint 44 points.

From ClintB: 15mm WWII US Halftracks (35 points)

From Clint:

Just finished 5 US halftracks by the Plastic soldier company. These are 15mm scale and for my US PBI collection. They come in 5 sprues to a box and require assembly. I found they went together very easily but were a little fiddly to my fingers but not to fiddly to stop me getting more if I need them.  

They do come with a few optional pieces such as stowage different bumpers, machinegun mounts and crew. I could have put up 8 figures in each halftrack but instead elected to just do the drivers, co-driver and another figure to operate the .50. Most of the other crew are for sitting on the benches as opposed to action poses. 

As I see these more in a battle taxi role I did not want to clutter them with loads of extra figures, although if I get another box that might well become my best option. I have kept the bases very simple so they fit in with the rest of my force and besides when I look at a grassy field it does not have too many clumps about. It may be very different where you live but in the South of England, tend to be cultivated and with quite an even grass length (maybe not at the edges or on scrub land but generally).

These have been prepped for day 1 of the challenge and I kept putting off doing them mostly because I get side-tracked very easily. But In the end I wanted to get them done before the challenge ended and as we are now running out of time I did have to force myself to get them done as I had a new parcel of goodies arrive yesterday and I am eager to start them. 

Nice work Clint. These M3s certainly seem to be in the midst of cruising through a 'Green and Pleasant Land'. The more I see of the PSC range the more I like them. These models look to be very crisp, with nice sharp lines and clean interior detail (and the stowage always a welcome touch). I also like how you did the weathering and mud around the wheels and tracks. 

These five halftracks will give Clint 35 points. Great job!

From ClintB: 28mm Challenge Academy Girls School (40 points)

From Clint:

The Team

From left to right. 

Tamsyn P is a very productive worker. Andrea Saunders has a keen interest in Norse Mythology (and 'sign language' - ed). Anne O'Leary a very glamorous foreign exchange student. Francine Lee while a team player has anger management issues. Miss Campbell is the head girl and she keeps them all in line by dishing out house points. Me a new girl. And finally Rachel Rousell is very keen on her history, liking to get both the facts right and to wear lace lingerie for which the other girls sometimes tease her she has even had a couple of falsies (sandbags) and it is best not to mention anything about her "erhm...badger".

All the figures are 28mm Crooked dice miniatures. Inspired by the work of Ronald Searle and called St Searle's Girls (That's St Trinnians as far as the film industry is concerned) They started as cartoons and books originally, the first being published in 1941 in the magazine Lilliput.

I have kept the colours of a local school uniform but avoided the local girls grammar school where I did a PGCE ( which is Navy blue and pink). I have used pink as an accent colour just because I see a lot of girls in the UK wearing pink and I suspect that they might find it hard these days to get any other colour. 

And the last picture is of me and "Misty" the muse for the crooked dice miniature. As Misty is a zombie hunter you can see the zombie going Nom Nom Nom on another wargames Blogger (Mathyoo from Slovakia) on the left. (Salute last year).

Haha! This is awesome. I think you may have nailed the characters here Clint. Tamsyn (Veruca Salt!?) and Andrea are hilarious and Anne is quite the vamp (great legs). I quite fancy myself as Head Girl (dated one in High School - lived up to her title... ba-dum-pish! Boo! Hiss!!) Francine may need to be a bit more strawberry blonde but the rage-filled pose seems appropriate. How Clint would translate into a schoolgirl's name I cringe to think about (nice teddy)... And poor Rachel with her hidden secrets, Victoria or otherwise... 

All of them, excellent stuff.

The Team will give Clint 40 points, with a bit extra as, well, I'm in it.   ;-)

From ClintB: Warmachine Crxy BoneJack 'Defiler' (12 points)

From Clint:

"Warmachine BoneJack Defiler"

The Crxy Warjacks and bone jacks are not as robust as many of the other factions. Being Part Pirate, part robot, part undead and part magic I wanted it to look like it had been neglected and abused and finally crawling chicken like from the swamp. The defiler Bone jack is actually a light assault robot and while it is not too good in melee it is armed with a 'sludge gun' which sounds pretty unpleasant if you ask me.

It has taken me a couple of years to finally get around to painting, but now that I have I must admit I did like the challenge. All my club members have moved on from playing Warmachine now, but I still have a few more bits and bobs to do before I can field enough of a force to put up any kind of fight. I guess the morale of this story is I need to paint faster! Oh well too late! But at least I am happy with it.

That's a very cool mini Clint! I really like the rust effect on the BoneJack's armour but I must say I'm quite taken by that toxic pool it's striding through - how did you achieve that? Very nice work.

This fellow will give Clint 12 points.

From ClintB: Grave Robbers, Opel & Sea Monster (!) (18 points)

From Clint:

Odds and Sods

 

Originally started these two Victorian era Grave robbers for the villains bonus round. But they were not done in time so Burke and Hare have stayed on my painting desk for too long so I thought I should finish them while watching the Curling! The 2 figures are West Wind Productions, part of the 'Empire of the Dead' range and as such are both 28mm scale. I did also consider doing them for the Casualty round but again another dead line missed (Har! Har! Har! - ed.).

Also a solitary Skytrex Action 200 range Opel Blitz Truck.  I scrounged the truck from a friend and have painted it in civilian livery as I want to use it as a Spanish Civil War truck. I know It's not exactly correct but it is close enough at 10mm that I should get away with it. I have a planned Game of SCW with Posties Rejects and am just cobbling together troops as you read this. So I hope to have some to show next week.

Additionally here is a Spartan Games Uncharted Seas Sea monster. I am not sure what scale one would attache to this resin Water elemental, as while the ships are supposedly 1/600th scale I suspect this beast will eventually be used in some 28mm Fantasy skirmish game. 

Ha! Great work Clint. Those two grave robbers are wonderfully characterful and you've done a magnificent job on their faces. (I now need a set of these...). The truck will look great for SCW gaming (you often need a lot of them and some variation adds to the overall look I think). The sea monster is very scary. We play Dystopian Wars but I've always wanted to try Uncharted Seas for no other reason for the fun of encountering monsters like this on the high seas. Fun!

This interesting selection of miniatures will give Clint 18 points, just enough for him to meet his second Challenge target of 950 points. Congratulations! Very nicely done, sir!

From ClintB: 20mm Arab Revolt Turkish Infantry (96 points)

From Clint:

Continuing the "Arab Revolt" Game sorry no Camels today (But still more to come. I promise.) Here however are 24 Turks which will act as the opposition for the camel mounted Arabs. Obviously the Ottomans had more adversaries than just the Arabs, so the figures could also be used at Gallipoli as well as any of the Battles against the British forces in Palestine. And maybe next year I might do those forces for the painting challenge. But that is the future and I will need to build on this force as it stands if I was going to fight any of those battle. 

The figures are again IT Miniatures and 20mm or 1/72nd scale. And between the pictures you have the whole range with the exception of support weapons. I'll need to try the game first before I think of adding any Machine guns for example. But it is quite possible that they will be added in the future.  Apart from the two officers who are sword armed they all carry rifles (Mauser  M.1898. for those interested in the little details).

In an ideal world I would have liked a few more wearing the Red Fez so again looking to the future I can see some head swaps in the distance. After all as Dr. Who has claimed " Fezzes are cool!" Who am I to contradict him.

How cool is this: more dudes in fezzes! These look great Clint. Are you going to find some German advisors to accompany these guys? As you say a very versatile force.

These young Turks will give Clint 96 points, allowing him to close in tight on his second Challenge target of 950 points. Good job!

From ClintB: 10mm Mahdist Tribesmen (64 points)

From Clint:

Yet More Pendraken figures 3 figures to a 20m by 20mm base and 21 bases in all. I have kept the patch colours on the Jibbehs muted so no need to wear sunglasses while playing in England. (Chance would be a fine thing at the moment!) Overall I am not displeased with how they have all come out. There is one dodgy stand of three figures which is the result of dropping 10mm figures while painting which have now deserted and fled under a wardrobe. So the Dodgy stand has three figures that don't quite conform, one is an Ansar, one a fuzzie wuzzie and the last carries a Rifle. But overall that will not be noticed. Although I now suspect some eagle eyed person will try to spot it.

This Lot sees me finish the 10mm Ansar for the foreseeable future. I recognise the difference between sufficient to play a game and a desirable amount. So further purchases of 10mm Colonial figures are planned, with maybe a few extra camels.

Camels in 10mm? Booyah! Bring em' on!

Great work here Clint. I like the muted patchwork on the tribesmen and the arid basing looks very convincing. Well done.

These ferocious lads will give Clint 64 points. Again, nice work!

From ClintB: 10mm Mahdists & 20mm Arab Civilians (41 points)

From Clint: 

20mm Arab civilians and six more Mahdist stands again rifle armed. This has finished the rifle armed marhdits still a lot of melee armed Marhdists to go though so more I suspect next week. They are again 10mm figures from Pendraken. 

I was given these Arab civilians by Tim at IT Miniatures. Seven 20mm figures 3 adult males and a young lad and 2 adult ladies and a young girl. The Children and Ladies come in one pack and the gents come in  separate pack. As mentioned they were an unexpected gift and are for my Arab revolt game. Not sure they will get too much of an active part but more as moving scenery. 

Having taken on the feedback with regard to patches on the Jibbehs I have mostly kept them but have muted the colours. The result I am happier with than the brighter patches.

Great work Clint. I like that you kept some of the patchwork as it keeps the unit varied and interesting. My favourites though are the Arab civilians. I love the kids dashing about and again the bright colours really work nicely for this group.

The Mahdists and civilians will give Clint 41 points. Well done!

From ClintB: 20mm Arab Revolt Camel Riders (48 points)

From Clint: 

Adding to the Arab forces for my Arab Revolt 1916-18 game here are an extra 6 camels and riders.

They are once more by IT Miniatures and 20mm in size, mostly rifle armed, although 1 carries a sword in his hands for some close in work.

I only have a few left to do before the Arab force is complete for the game so there will be fewer camel submissions from now on, and no I do not have any dead camels for the casualties round.

No! Don't stop the camel entries - I love them! Well, I don't LOVE them (eww!) but I always like the look of the ungainly, doe-eyed blighters and you've really hit your stride with these fellows. Lovely stuff.

These half dozen 'ships of the desert' will give Clint 48 points. Great work!

From ClintB: 15mm Mahdists (31 points)

Clint adds to his Mahdist forces with this unit of infantry.

From Clint:

Continuing to work on my 10mm Pendraken figures I have 30 more Mahdists. Again 3 figures to a base, this time all melee armed. I still have many more in the lead pile so expect a few more submissions. 

Many of these figures have bright patches on their Jibbeh this is not something I will continue too much as I am not a huge fan of the results of painting the patches on. I Just think they look better without them. Sometimes you just have to try things and see. 

Great work Clint. I actually like the addition of the patches of colour. If you're thinking they are too bright you might try a localized diluted brown wash to tone it down to your taste.

This fine unit of Mahdi will give Clint 31 points.